Pat Coughlan
Encyclopedia
Pat Coughlan was an Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 sportsman. He played hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...

 with his local club Blackrock
Blackrock GAA
Blackrock National Hurling Club is a G.A.A. club located on the southside of Cork City, Ireland. The club was founded in 1883 and is primarily concerned with the game of hurling.-History:...

 and was a member of the Cork senior inter-county team in the 1880s and 1890s.

Biography

The Coughlan’s were a famous family in Blackrock at the turn of the 20th century. The father, John Coughlan, earned his livelihood as a fisherman. All of his sons would later earn their livings on the sea. The Coughlan's also came to be regarded as a famous hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...

 family in the early years of the championship. Pat Coughlan was the eldest of the family. He was followed by Denis 'Lyonsie' Coughlan, Jer Coughlan, Dan Coughlan
Dan Coughlan
Dan Coughlan was an Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Blackrock and was a member of the Cork senior inter-county team from 1894 until 1903.-Biography:...

 and Tom 'Honest Man' Coughlan who all played with 'the Rockies' and claimed All-Ireland titles with Cork.

Coughlan’s sons, Eudie
Eudie Coughlan
Eugene 'Eudie' Coughlan was a famous Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Blackrock and with the Cork senior inter-county team from 1919 until 1931. Coughlan captained Cork to the All-Ireland title in 1931...

 and John
John Coughlan
John Coughlan was an Irish sportsman. He played hurling with his local club Blackrock and was a member of the Cork senior inter-county team in the 1920 and 1930s.-External links:*...

, went on to win seven All-Ireland medals between them with Cork in the 1920s. His daughter, Kitty, won three All-Ireland camogie
Camogie
Camogie is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women; it is almost identical to the game of hurling played by men. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and world wide, largely among Irish communities....

 medals in-a-row between 1939 and 1941. John Coughlan's son, the grandson of Pat, continued the hurling tradition by winning a county title with Blackrock in 1961.

Club

Coughlan played his club hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...

 with the famous Blackrock
Blackrock GAA
Blackrock National Hurling Club is a G.A.A. club located on the southside of Cork City, Ireland. The club was founded in 1883 and is primarily concerned with the game of hurling.-History:...

 club in Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...

 and enjoyed much success. He won his first senior county title
Cork Senior Hurling Championship
The Evening Echo Cork County Senior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Cork County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1887 for the top hurling teams in the county of Cork in Ireland....

 in 1887 as ‘the Rockies’ captured the very first Cork county title. Coughlan added further county titles to his collection in 1889 and 1891. Blackrock quickly became the standard-bearers in the county and Coughlan had further county victories with the famous club in 1893, 1894, 1895, 1897 and 1898.

Inter-county

Blackrock’s victory in the county championship in 1893 allowed them to represent Cork in the inter-county series. For the second year in-a-row the Cork inter-county team contained a mix of players, including Coughlan who was included as part of the Blackrock contingent. That year Cork reached the Munster final where Limerick
Limerick GAA
The Limerick County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Limerick GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Limerick...

 provided the opposition. On that occasion Cork retained their provincial title with a remarkable 5-3 to 0-0 victory, giving Coughlan his first Munster
Munster Senior Hurling Championship
The Munster GAA Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1888 for the top hurling teams in the province of Munster in Ireland....

 title. The subsequent All-Ireland final pitted Cork against Kilkenny
Kilkenny GAA
The Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Kilkenny. The county board has its head office and main grounds at Nowlan Park and is also responsible for Kilkenny inter-county teams...

. It was the very first meeting of these two great rivals in the history of the championship. The game was fixed for Ashtown, however, upon arrival both teams refused to play there as somebody had neglected to cut the grass. After a long delay the goalposts were uprooted and both teams and their supporters headed to the Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park is an urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying 2–4 km west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its 16 km perimeter wall encloses , one of the largest walled city parks in Europe. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the seventeenth...

 where the game took place after a long delay. The game itself turned into a rout as Cork score 6-8 to Kilkenny’s 0-2. It was Cork’s second All-Ireland
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1887 for the top hurling teams in Ireland....

 title in-a-row and it was Coughlan’s first.

In 1894 Cork reached their third successive Munster final. Coughlan was included on the team again and played in his second Munster final where Tipperary
Tipperary GAA
The Tipperary County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or C is one of over 30 regional executive boards throughout the world. These executive boards are known as County Boards even though some no longer correspond to the area under the jurisdiction of the counties from which their names...

 provided the opposition. On that occasion Cork retained their provincial title for the third consecutive occasion with a remarkable 3-4 to 1-2 victory, giving Coughlan his second Munster title. The subsequent All-Ireland final pitted Cork against Dublin
Dublin GAA
Dublin County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association , or Dublin GAA, is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Dublin. The county board is also responsible for the Dublin inter-county teams...

 for the second time in three years. Cork showed their class and the game turned into another rout. A 5-20 to 2-0 score line gave victory to Cork once again. The 29 point defeat of ‘the Dubs’ marks the game as one of the most one-sided All-Ireland finals in history. It was Cork’s third All-Ireland title in-a-row and it was Coughlan’s second. Blackrock were entitled to represent Cork again in 1895 as the county chased an unprecedented four-in-a-row, however, a dispute over the 1894 football championship resulted in Cork withdrawing from the championship.

External links

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