Career
At club level Coughlan was an eight-time county club championship medalist with Blackrock. Club
Coughlan played his club hurling with the famous Blackrock club in Cork and enjoyed much success. 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
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. A remarkable 5-3 to no score victory gave Coughlan his first Munster medal.
The subsequent All-Ireland final provided the very first championship meeting of Cork and Kilkenny.
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 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.
lieutenant was Coughlan’s first All-Ireland medal.
Coughlan lined out in a second provincial decider in 1894. A 3-4 to 1-2 defeat of Tipperary gave him a second Munster medal.
The subsequent All-Ireland decider saw Dublin provide the opposition. A delay of two hours mattered little to Cork and the team powered to a 5-20 to 2-0 victory.
lieutenant was one of the most one-sided championship deciders of all-time while it also gave Coughlan his second All-Ireland medal.
lieutenant was also Cork"s third successive All-Ireland title. Four-in-a-row proved beyond Cork as a dispute over the awarding of the All-Ireland football title in 1894 resulted in Cork leaving the Gaelic Athletic Association in protest. Coughlan continued to line out with Cork without success until his retirement after the 1899 championship.
