Singer Cathal Coughlan dies aged 61

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Cathal Coughlan has died aged 61.

His death was announced via Coughlan’s family, who commented that the Cork-born artist had ‘slipped away peacefully in hospital after a long illness’ on May 18th.

Coughlan first came to prominence as the singer and songwriter, alongside Sean O’Hagan, of Microdisney. Formed in 1980 in Cork, the duo relocated to London, became a five-piece, and recorded five albums for Rough Trade Records and then Virgin Records.

While commercial success remained elusive, the band enjoyed considerable critical acclaim, with their 1985 album The Clock Comes Down The Stairs reaching. number one in the UK independent charts.

Cathal Coughlan and Sean O’Hagan of Microdisney(Image courtesy of Ciarán Ó Tuama)

After the end of Microdisney in 1988, Coughlan enjoyed success with his new band Fatima Mansions, fusing an abrasive indie-rock sound with a fondness for traditional folk music, offering fiercely idiosyncratic lyrics full of striking imagery and mordant social and political commentary, underwritten with an at-times surprising tenderness. A side project, Bubonique, saw him collaborate with comic Sean Hughes.

We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

There followed a series of albums released under his own name which brought to the fore a more experimental approach to song writing, and several collaborative efforts, including work with the French composer François Ribac, and North Sea Scrolls, a concept album recorded with The Auteurs’ Luke Haines and Andrew Mueller.

The enduring appeal of Microdisney’s music was evident when the band returned for two rapturously recieved reunion concerts at Dublin’s National Concert Hall and the Barbican in London in 2018, performing The Clock Comes Down The Stairs in full.

We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

Watch: Microdisney perform The Clock Comes Down the Stairs in 2018

Cathal Coughlan’s sixth solo album, Song of Co-Aklan, was released in 2021, containing contributions from many of the musicians he had worked with over the previous forty years, including Microdisney cohort Sean O’Hagan.

We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

His most recent release came earlier this year with a hAon, the debut album from Telefis, the duo Coughlan had formed with Irish producer, Jacknife Lee. Described as “a conceptual electro-funk joyride through the past into the future”, the album was warmly received by critics.

A long-time resident of London, Coughlan leaves behind his wife, Julie. A memorial ceremony will be held amongst close friends and family in the coming weeks.