Coppingers of Barryscourt Descriptive List (Ref. U405)

U405

extinguished in the early nineteenth century (see Allied Materials below, and item U405/6).

The William Coppinger to whom most of the present letters were addressed seems to have been Stephen’s son, and flourished in the middle of the eighteenth century. He was apparently succeeded successively by his son and grandson, both William, the latter inheriting a heavily indebted estate in 1816. The elder William was connected through marriage and kinship to many other leading Catholic landowning families, including the Butlers of Kilcash, the Galweys of Lota, and the Sarsfields of Ducloyne. His brother Joseph was a prominent merchant, engaged especially in the wine trade, based at Cork. His grandson William (1779- 1863) was a friend of Daniel O’Connell , his sister being married to the Liberator’s brother. He never married, and on his death his estates, including one at Ballylean, Co Clare, passed to his nephew, Morgan John O’Connell. William’s brother Thomas achieved prominence as a miller, with mills i n the nearby town of Midleton. Throughout the generations, several family members became priests, with one, William Coppinger (cousin of the younger owner of Barryscourt), becoming Catholic bishop of Cloyne and Ross, serving in that office from 1791 to 1831. Allied Materials CCCA U229 Exham Flynn Solicitors’ Papers. This collection contains many letters and legal documents of the three William Coppingers, including an 1801 lease of the Barryscourt estate, leased from the earls of Barrymore (U229/102/1). Several documents relate to the right to present priests to the parishes of St Mary’s, Shandon, and SS Peter and Paul (e.g., U229/100/21, /34).

Content and Structure

Scope and Content Of the ninety letters present, seventy-nine are addressed to the elder William Coppinger, and range in date from 1740 to 1756. Only two are addressed to his son William (1784- 85). Of the remain ing letters, only one, from Daniel O’Connell, is addressed to the younger William Coppinger (1832). Three are directed to his brother Thomas, all from bishops. The letter from Bishop Collins of Ross is of particular interest, as in it he explains in detail the reasons why he must decline to support publicly the Catholic candidate in a forthcoming election (U405/87). One letter is addressed to ‘L’Abbé’ Stephen Coppinger, and one to Bishop William Coppinger (both 1827). A copy of a letter from Edmund Burke to Dr Hussey, Bishop of Waterford, is also present (1797). In it, Burke advises against the use by Catholic bishops of seals showing arms and a mitre, noting that ‘malignant enemies’ might interpret such use as implying a claim to temporalities held by the bishops of the Established Church (U405/82). The latest item present is a letter to a James Power, apparently a Coppinger relative, from Mary Coppinger, in Lucca, Italy (1843).