|
The Irish surname Coyne
is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic
O'Cadhain,
(pronounced O'COYNE) meaning "descendant of
Cadhan"; the name Cadhan itself comes from
the Irish meaning "wild goose". Bearers of
the name Coyne find their home in counties
Mayo and Galway in Ireland. The sept is
believed to have originated at Partry in Mayo
and number among the septs of the Ui
Fiachrach Muaidhe. The surname is also
Anglicized Kyne, and is often confused with
the name Coen which is properly derived from
the Gaelic O Comhdhain, and only rarely from
the name O Cadhain. The sept of the O
Comhdhain is also a branch of the Ui
Fiachrach, hence the confusion, but generally
hails in this instance from counties Galway
and Roscommon. Another curious synonym of the
surname Coyne is the Castlebar surname
Barnacle;
this arose from the semi-translation of the
surname, the barnacle goose being a species
of wildfowl commonly known in Irish as
"cadhan". The surname Coyne is most common
today in Mayo and Dublin. There are Coyne's
who were officers in the army of King James
II (the Wild
Geese of Ireland)
and are listed in King James II's
Irish
Army List by
D'Alton.
Also, there are Coyne's listed in the
History of the Irish Brigades in the
Service of France by J. C. O'Callaghan.
Michael Swift's Historical Maps of
Ireland (1999) shows a map c. 1580 on
which the current Strangford Lough, County
Down, is identified as Lake Coyne*. The same
appellation appears in the Illustrated
London News (Oct. 19, 1889)*. In the
American Civil War, John Nicholas Coyne,
Sergeant, Company B, 70th New York Infantry,
was awarded the Congressional
Medal
of Honor for
gallantry during the Civil War in capturing a
Confederate flag after a severe hand-to-hand
contest at Williamsburg, Va. on May 5, 1862.
Later wounded at Fair Oaks, Va., and
Gettysburg, Pa. he was also the author of
"History of the Third Army Corps," and
"History of the Excelsior Brigade." Other
prominent people with the Coyne name include:
Joseph
Stirling Coyne,
a famous Irish playwright and co-founder of
the English magazine "Punch"; Rev. Joseph
Coyne, P.P (1839-1891), an author of repute
and contributor to the Nation;
James
Coyne, Canadian
lawyer and Governor of the Bank of Canada;
Sarah
Coyne, daughter
of the late Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Prime
Minister of Canada, and Canadian
constitutional law expert Deborah
Coyne; Robert
Coyne, American lawyer and company director;
William J. Coyne, U.S. Congressman from
Pennsylvania; James K. Coyne, President of
the National Air Transportation Association;
Larry Coyne, chief executive officer of Coyne
Airways and its parent company Coyne
Aviation; Major
General John T. (Mike)
Coyne,
Commanding General, 4th Marine Division,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Reserve Affairs and Chief of Staff (Retired);
George
V. Coyne, S.J.,
Director of the Vatican Observatory;
Colleen
Coyne, Olympic
gold medal winner as a member of the U.S.
National Women's Ice Hockey team at the 1998
Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan; and
Wayne
Coyne, founding
member of the band called The Flaming
Lips.
*Contributed
by Brian
J. Coyne
|
