The former Christian Brother Liam Coughlan (90), who abused multiple children in counties Laois, Offaly and Carlow during his teaching career, died in prison last month, it has emerged.
Coughlan, sometimes Coghlan, left the congregation in the 1990s. He was jailed in 2023 for indecently assaulting former pupils of the CBS primary school on Stephen Street, Kilkenny, during the 1970s.
He was further convicted earlier this year for the sexual abuse of former students of the CBS primary school on Patrick Street, Portarlington, Co Offaly, in the 1980s.
Sentencing Coughlan to five years in prison in the Portarlington case, Judge Keenan Johnson, president of the Circuit Court, said it was likely Coughlan would die in prison.
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Coughlan observed the Portarlington trial by video-link from Mountjoy Prison, where he was receiving palliative care. The jury, which was not told about the Kilkenny conviction, was told he was unable to attend the court for medical reasons.
Portarlington lies on the border of counties Laois and Offaly. Coughlan also taught in counties Cork and Carlow. After he left the Christian Brothers in the 1990s, he married and moved to Tramore, Co Waterford.
A number of his victims are suing the Christian Brothers for damages arising from Coughlan’s abuse but the congregation has been operating an obstructive legal strategy that makes it extremely difficult and expensive for them to get their cases to trial.
When sentencing Coughlan in the Portarlington case, Johnson described the congregation’s legal strategy as “morally bankrupt” and said it appeared to be designed to protect the congregation’s assets.
During the criminal trials, witnesses told of sexual assaults inside and outside school. Almost all the witnesses gave evidence of Coughlan sexually assaulting students at the top of the room while the children were attending class.
