St Paul’s Bessbrook is proud to congratulate Year 14 pupil Shea Loughran on his selection in the 2026 Danske Bank Ulster Schools All-Star Football team.

Shea takes the corner-forward position, the final place on the team of the year, and joins the most decorated young footballers in Ulster schools football.

Shea has worn the St Paul’s colours with distinction throughout his years at the school. He was part of the valiant school team that lifted the Rannafast Cup, and he has since captained Armagh at Minor level. With his club, Carrickcruppen St Patrick’s, he was part of the panel that won an Armagh Intermediate championship, a reminder that the best young footballers are shaped by strong schools and strong clubs working in tandem.

There is a family thread worth noting. Shea continues a tradition of representing the Orchard County. His father, Peter, and his grandfather, also Peter, are both former Ulster medallists. Three generations of Loughran footballers, each in their own era, have carried the same standard. That history sits easily on Shea’s shoulders.

His contribution to the life of the school extends well beyond sport. Shea is an esteemed senior pupil in St Paul’s, and in November 2025 he travelled with the school’s International Project to Kenya, working alongside pupils and teachers in schools very different from his own. It is the mark of a rounded young man that he is equally at home on a championship field, in a school council meeting, and in a classroom four thousand miles from home.

We offer our warmest congratulations to Shea, to his family, and to his coaches at club, county, and school. The All-Star award is a fitting recognition of a young footballer who has given so much to so many, and who has done so with grace.