Sir Walter Coppinger

Sir Walter Coppinger (died 1639) was a member of the Irish nobility from County Cork, Ireland, who was a magistrate of Cork city, a lawyer, a landlord, and a moneylender. Coppinger came from one of the most prominent families in Cork city; though himself of Hiberno-Norse rather than Old English or Gaelic descent, he was hostile to the English settlement of Cork, and had a reputation for ruthlessness.[1]

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 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.

  1. ^ Peter Lamborn Wilson (1 January 2003). Pirate Utopias: Moorish Corsairs & European Renegadoes. Autonomedia. pp. 115–. ISBN 978-1-57027-158-8.