Former Christian Brother who sexually abused children in Portarlington dies in prison

Former Christian Brother Liam Coughlan (90), who sexually abused multiple primary school children in Kilkenny and Portarlington, has died in prison while receiving palliative care.

During a trial in Portlaoise Cicuit Court which ended in July, he was found guilty of 31 counts of indecently assaulting nine schoolboys at St Patrick's Christian Brothers Primary School in Portarlington, where he had been a headmaster in the 1980s. He was sentenced to five years in prison for the crimes and Judge Keenan Johnson noted he would likely die in prison.

Coughlan, who left the Christian Brothers in the 1990s, was jailed in 2023 following two separate legal proceedings at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court concerning the CBS primary school on Stephen Street in Kilkenny.

In May 2023, he was convicted by a jury on 30 counts of indecent assault involving five boys and sentenced to three years and two months in prison.

In October of the same year, he received an additional four-and-a-half-year sentence after pleading guilty to 19 sample counts of indecent assault against 19 schoolboys between 1974 and 1978.

Sentencing Coughlan at the time, Judge Elma Sheahan said the abuse perpetrated by him not only “instilled fear and embarrassment in the lives and minds of young boys attending school, but has served to torment the men these young boys have become”.

Judge Sheahan said she wished to acknowledge the time it has taken for the abuse to come to light and she paid tribute to the “determination” of the complainants. The court heard three of the complainants came forward in 1998, but their allegations did not result in a prosecution.

Throughout his career, Coughlan also taught in counties including Carlow, and Cork. He left the order in the 1990s, married and moved to Tramore, County Waterford.

A number of his victims are currently suing the Christian Brothers for damages.