Microdisney to the Sultans: Man on a mission to chronicle Cork’s rich music heritage
Clockwise from left: music journalist and historian Paul McDermott; The Sultans of Ping in 2014; Microdisney in 1987
In the dark days following the unexpected death in May 2022 of Cork songwriter Cathal Coughlan, some fans of his music turned for solace to Paul McDermott’s radio documentary about Coughlan’s first band Microdisney. Iron Fist In A Velvet Glove, initially broadcast in 2017, has become a source text for anyone curious about Coughlan, Microdisney, the Cork music scene of the early 1980s – and, indeed, what it was like to live in Ireland during one of its deepest, economic troughs. With Coughlan’s passing, many sought it out again.
“I said to Cathal, ‘Let’s do a radio documentary about Microdisney’. He and Sean O’Hagan [Microdisney’s guitarist] hadn’t spoken about those days in about 20 years. They knew it would be in safe hands. But that it wasn’t necessarily going to be white-washed,” says McDermott, who lectures in radio production, journalism studies and media at Rathmines College Dublin.
