Local YouTube star "buzzing" after live charity event in Los Angeles raises €5.5m
Local YouTube star Sean McLoughlin, aka Jacksepticeye, reached a major fundraising milestone at a Christmas-themed charity event which he hosted in Los Angeles last weekend.
The Offaly native, and former Athlone resident, held his annual 'Thankmas' charity donation livestream as a stage show for the first time this year.
Held in front of two sold-out audiences at The Orpheum Theater on Saturday, the event generated over $6 million (€5.5m) for World Central Kitchen, a non-profit organisation which provides meals to people in crisis situations globally.
The event at the weekend brought the total raised by the YouTuber's annual fundraisers over the years to more than $25 million (€23m).
On social media, the 33-year-old former Athlone IT student said he was "still buzzing" after the event and was "so proud of everyone who helps make this happen every year".
Originally from Cloghan, Sean started his YouTube channel more than a decade ago. His YouTube videos - which mostly consisted of frenetic and amusing video game reviews - began attracting a huge following in 2014 and 2015.
At one point he was uploading two new videos to his YouTube channel every day, seven days a week.
He currently has more than 30 million subscribers on YouTube but acknowledged last weekend that the doesn't post new videos as often as he once did.
Sean's seven-hour 'Thankmas' event last Saturday is on YouTube and can be seen below. (Note: Contains strong language)