Katherine McLoughlin became Katherine Norton aka Katherine nic Lochlainn (fl. 1671- 1679) was a successful Irish Quaker preacher in the 1670s, a period of significant growth of the Quaker movement in Ireland.
Life.
McLoughlin was born near Coleraine, County Antrim, Ireland, to well-off parents and it has been surmised that two of her relations (or even brothers) may have been preachers. She had been educated in Derry where she had learned to speak the Irish language. McLoughlin arrived in Barbados to marry a Mr Norton when she was sixteen. 
Her life changed when she met George Fox in 1671. He had arrived in Barbados to find Quaker coverts and to establish a following. McLoughlin became a convert and although Quaker women were subject to men's authority they were allowed to preach. McLoughlin became a talented and convincing preacher, with a fellow Quaker describing her as of "great service here, and some were convinced by her and we had very large meetings".
In 1676, McLoughlin was a guest of Sharp, who was a successful wool merchant and Quaker in Dublin. He supported the establishment of the movement in America. Some of his other guests were bound for the Americas, but McLoughlin was due to travel to the northern counties of Ireland to preach in market places and in private houses. She wrote to Sharp in 1678 noting her welcome and the "innocent" people she was meeting. He had already noted her success in creating converts, including the wife of a judge.
The advancement of the Quaker movement was constrained by the language barrier, but McLaughlin knew Gaelic and preached in that language. There were few Quakers in Ireland at first, but they made an impact. McLouglin particularly attracted attention as a woman performing a public role. She had disputes and was open to abuse, but she preached in the Irish counties of Armagh, Cavan, Westmeath and Dublin. with success She left Ireland in 1677 en route for England, but no record has been found of her life after that.
References.
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