B-Side the Leeside: Cathal Coughlan - Black River Falls

In terms of tone and recording methods, the 2000 solo album was a major milestone in the career of the former Microdisney singer

For Cathal Coughlan, Black River Falls was the first album where some of the musicians worked remotely, using email and CD-Rom to transfer music. Picture: Bleddyn Butcher

The Rob Roy pub on Pearse Square in Cobh was the improbable location for a significant moment in the career of someone often described as one of Ireland’s greatest living songwriters. Cathal Coughlan, the former Microdisney and Fatima Mansions frontman, hadn’t played live in over three years when he took to the microphone on Wednesday, October 1, 1997.

Around 40 people packed into the Rob Roy’s back room to witness what was essentially a live rehearsal for an upcoming Irish tour in which Coughlan was backed by Giordaí Ua Laoghaire’s Nine Wassies From Bainne. On the night the small crowd of friends, family and fans were treated to some new songs which would be released a few years later in 2000 on Black River Falls, a landmark album in a recording career that has spanned over forty years.