Coughlan, John

Born in Butler’s Bridge [WNW of Dudalk], Co. Cavan, where his Galway parents resided temporarily; An accident in his childhood lamed him for life, a mishap that practically determined his future career; In 1845 the family emigrated to America, accompanied by Patrick Flannery, the renowned blind piper from whom John acquired the first rudiments of piping; In New York he received, from time to time, instructions from "Jacky" Quin, a County Longford piper, and he had the advantage of precept and example from Flannery’s uncle, William Madden, a performer almost as celebrated as his nephew; In 1855 [in O’Neill, incorrectly, 1835] he accompanied Madden to Ireland; Together they toured the country for 2 years, before returning to New York; In 1859 he started out as an independent piper, and toured all over the United States; Conceiving that the disturbed condition of public sentiment, arising from the Civil War, was unfavourable to his prospects in America, John and some members of the family took passage, in 1862, for Melbourne; Attracted by the gold discoveries, he went to New Zealand, but returned to Melbourne in 1883; Until his death his supremacy among the few performers on the Irish or Union pipes who emigrated to Australia was undisputed.