He played hurling with his local club Blackrock and was a member of the Cork senior inter-county team from 1894 until 1903.
Coughlan's grandnephew continued the hurling tradition by winning a county title with Blackrock in 1961.
A relatively easy 3-4 to 1-2 defeat of Tipperary in the provincial decider gave him a Munster winners' title.
[2] For the second time in three years Dublin provided the opposition for Cork in the subsequent All-Ireland final.
[4] He was injured prior to the subsequent All-Ireland final and played no part in Cork's victory over London.
In 1905, when salmon fishing declined on the River Lee, Coughlan emigrated when still in the prime of his hurling career.