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Liam Coughlan, 90, was already in prison for sexually abusing school pupils in Kilkenny in the 1970s when he was sentenced in July to five years for sexual assaults on nine boys in a primary school in Portarlington in the 1980s.
Coughlan, who was terminally ill, died on Thursday after three years in prison. The Garda investigation into the Portarlington case began after a victim read a report in the Irish Mail on Sunday that his former teacher had been charged in Kilkenny in January 2022.
They said at the time: ‘It was your article that prompted me to go gardaí. I got up from seeing it, and I said to my wife, “they’ve caught the f***er”, and I burst into tears. It was only then I realised how much it had been affecting me.’
In August, Coughlan’s abuse made headline news again when the names of more than 300 former Christian Brothers were published in a national paper following an order from the High Court.
A victim brought a civil breach of duty case against the Christian Brothers for the sexual and physical abuse he suffered at the hands of Coughlan. Because the Christian Brothers operate as an unincorporated body, and Head Brother David Gibson refused to appoint a nominee, Judge Mary
Rose Gearty ordered the publication of 341 former Christian Brothers’ names as joined defendants.
While it is not alleged the named men are guilty of any crime, the High Court hopes that the move will encourage more victims of abuse to come forward.