Sir Walter Coppinger (died 1639) was a member of the

Irish nobility The Irish nobility could be described as including persons who do, or historically did, fall into one or more of the following categories of nobility: * Gaelic nobility of Ireland: descendants in the male line of at least one historical grade ...

from

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, who was a magistrate of

Cork city Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

, a lawyer, a landlord, and a moneylender. Coppinger came from one of the most prominent families in

; though himself of Hiberno-Norse rather than

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

descent, he was hostile to the English settlement of Cork, and had a reputation for ruthlessness. Sir Walter Coppinger was the eldest son of James Coppinger, and the great grandson of Stephen Coppinger who was the first representative of the city of Cork in the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland () was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until the end of 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chambers: the Irish Hou ...

in 1560, and Mayor of Cork on two occasions, in 1564 and 1572. Sir Walter was a moneylender, and acquired many lands and properties from people who defaulted on mortgages. This made him somewhat unpopular and his reputation in Cork to this day reflects this.

Land, legal disputes and incidents

In 1594, Sir Walter acquired the rights of the manor and castle of Cloghan near Carbery, County Cork from two brothers, Charles McCormucke McTeige McCartye and Donogho McCormucke McTeige McCartye, of Cloghrean. Years later, Charles disputed the original transaction, attempted to set aside the deed and obtain a ruling whereby the original transaction was by way of a mortgage only. In 1633, the court ruled the lands and castle belonged to Sir Walter. In 1609, the Mayor of Cork mortgaged wines which would become due to the city in order to raise money towards the payments of debts. One eighth of all prize wines, one quarter of all wines not considered as prize wines such as Spanish and Gascogne wines. This mortgage would continue until the Mayor paid £125 to repossess their estate. A number of people including Sir Walter Coppinger were granted this mortgage. In October of the same year, Sir Walter was sworn as Serjeant of the Mace. Sir Fineen O'Driscoll was the local lord in Cork, loyal to the English, and had been knighted in 1587 for his work in capturing Spanish ships. Sir Walter's younger brother, Richard Coppinger, was married to Sir Fineen's daughter, Eileen. In 1600, Sir Fineen opened his lands to English "planters" by granting Sir Thomas Crooke the rights to found the town of Baltimore which grew rapidly. But the settlement proved deeply unpopular with the staunchly nationalist and Roman Catholic Coppinger who had his own ideas on development of West Cork. Sir Walter harassed the inhabitants with legal claims to their lands. In 1610, a compromise was reached whereby Crooke, Coppinger, and O'Driscoll agreed to grant a lease to Baltimore to the settlers for a term of 21 years, expiring on 20 June 1631. In 1616, Crooke and his fellow settlers brought suit in the

Court of Castle Chamber The Court of Castle Chamber (which was sometimes simply called ''Star Chamber'') was an Irish court of special jurisdiction which operated in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It was established by Elizabeth I of England in 1571 to deal w ...

, the Irish equivalent of

Star Chamber The court of Star Chamber () was an English court that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster, from the late to the mid-17th century (), and was composed of privy counsellors and common-law judges, to supplement the judicial activities of the ...

, alleging numerous acts of aggression against them: Coppinger was found guilty on one count of

riot A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

but cleared of the other charges. Castle Chamber was not noted for effectiveness and this verdict achieved little. In 1618, Crooke, despairing of obtaining justice from Irish courts, appealed to the Privy Council in London to protect the settlers against Coppinger's "malicious and covetous desire to supplant them" both by "bloody riot" and by fraudulent claims to their titles. No firm decision was taken, and Crooke renewed his petition before the new King

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

in 1626, who, noting that Castle Chamber was apparently divided on the issue, ordered a hearing before Star Chamber.Crawford p. 325 The case was still proceeding when Crooke died in 1630; it seems that the authorities were reluctant to decide either for Coppinger or for the settlers. After Crooke's death, control of

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

passed to Coppinger. In 1618, the Barrett family mortgaged

Ballincollig Castle Ballincollig Castle is a Norman architecture, Norman castle to the south of the town of Ballincollig, County Cork, Ireland, built after the Norman invasion of Ireland. In its prime, the castle was inhabited by the Clan Barrett, Barrett family, w ...

for £240 from Edmond Coppinger. The mortgage was eventually transferred to Sir Walter and in 1630, for an additional £790, Sir Walter took possession of the castle and lands. In 1644, the castle was taken by

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially a ...

; after 1690 it was unused and fell into disrepair. In 1630, Sir Walter Coppinger and two others, Sir William Sarsfield and Sir Randall Clayton, were put in the election to the office of Mayor of Cork, but all were unsuccessful.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coppinger, Sir Walter 1639 deaths Lawyers from Cork (city) 17th-century Irish lawyers Year of birth unknown People of Elizabethan Ireland 17th-century Irish landowners