Pat "Parson" Coughlan (born 23 August 1867) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

hurler who played as a left wing-back for the

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

senior team. Coughlan joined the team during the 1891 championship and was a regular member of the starting fifteen until his retirement after the 1899 championship. During that time he won two

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

medals and two

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

medals. At club level Coughlan was an eight-time county club championship medalist with

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a Enterprise risk management, risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackR ...

Playing career

Club

Coughlan played his club

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

with the Blackrock GAA club in

and enjoyed much success. He won his first senior county title 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 club in 1893, 1894, 1895, 1897 and 1898.

Inter-county

Coughlan made his first appearance for the Cork senior hurling team during the 1891 championship, however, Cork's campaign ended without success. Two years later in 1893 Coughlan was back on the Cork team as part of the Blackrock contingent. Cork's opening game was a provincial decider against

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

. A remarkable 5-3 to no score victory gave Coughlan his first

medal. The subsequent All-Ireland final provided the very first championship meeting of Cork and

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

. 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 The Phoenix Park ( ga, Páirc an Fhionnuisce) is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and tre ...

where the game took place after a long delay. The game itself turned into a rout as Cork scored 6-8 to Kilkenny's 0-2. It was Coughlan's first

medal. Coughlan lined out in a second provincial decider in 1894. A 3-4 to 1-2 defeat of

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

gave him a second Munster medal. The subsequent All-Ireland decider saw

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

provide the opposition. A delay of two hours mattered little to Cork and the team powered to a 5-20 to 2-0 victory. It was one of the most one-sided championship deciders of all-time while it also gave Coughlan his second All-Ireland medal. It was also Cork's third successive All-Ireland title. Four-in-a-row proved beyond Cork as a dispute over the awarding of the

football title in 1894 resulted in Cork leaving the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

in protest. Coughlan continued to line out with Cork without success until his retirement after the 1899 championship.

Personal life

Born in

, Coughlan was the eldest of what would become a hurling 'dynasty'. His young brothers, Denis, Jer,

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and Tom, would all become All-Ireland medalists with Cork. Coughlan worked as a fisherman and was affectionately knows as Parson. He married Nora Dorney, sister of fellow Blackrock and Cork hurlers "Bill Bill" Dorney and "Down Down" Dorney. Coughlan's sons, Eudie and

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, went on to win seven All-Ireland medals between them with Cork between 1920 and 1931. His daughter, Kitty, won three

medals in-a-row between 1939 and 1941 as a member of the Cork

camogie Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game of hurling (which is played by men onl ...

team. Coughlan's grandson, Willie, continued the hurling tradition by winning a championship medal with Blackrock in 1961.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coughlan, Pat 1867 births Year of death missing Blackrock National Hurling Club hurlers Cork inter-county hurlers All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners