Edward Cooney
Edward Cooney (1867–1960) was an Irish evangelist from the 1890s to the 1950s. Cooney was born in Enniskillen, Ireland to William R. Cooney, a wealthy local merchant. He was the third of eight children and joined the family business after finishing his schooling. He began combining his business travel with lay preaching around Ireland. He became one of the early leaders of a church founded by William Irvine after leaving his business career. Because of his colourful style and public preaching, his name came to be associated with the entire movement. Later, as Irvine's ouster, he began to criticise the development of hierarchy within the Two by Twos, its taking of a name for official purposes, and abandonment of other original tenets. Cooney and those who agreed with him were later expelled, and formed a looser group which is referred to as the Cooneyites. He continued his worldwide missions as an itinerant evangelist until his death in 1960. Early life Edward Cooney was born in 1867 in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Ireland, the third of eight children. He was baptised into the Church of Ireland at St. Anne's parish church (now St Macartan's Cathedral) there. His father was William Rutherford Cooney, a prominent local merchant, and his mother was Emily Maria Carson Cooney. He was educated first at the Enniskillen Model School. He went on to attend the prestigious Portora Royal School, which counted Oscar Wilde and, later, Samuel Beckett among its graduates. He was remembered by a classmate as "one of the nicest and best behaved" students at that time. Following school, he made a start in the family's business interests. Edward's devout elder brother William contracted tuberculosis when Edward was 17 years old. Edward also developed the infection, and they were sent to their uncle in Australia to recuperate. William worsened during 1887, and Edward took him to Ceylon where his mother and sister met them. Edward returned to Australia, while William was taken to Ireland. William died a week after arriving home. This reportedly prompted Edward to re-examine his own life, and he felt drawn to a closer relationship with God at this time. Begins preaching Edward travelled throughout Ireland on behalf of his family's business, and during the 1890s began preaching in the towns which he visited. As many of these areas were primarily Roman Catholic, Cooney's strident Protestant views often resulted in an uproar. Although still an active member of the Church of Ireland, he occasionally preached alongside members of other churches. In 1897, he met William Irvine in Borrisokane. William Irvine was a preacher with the interdenominational Faith Mission who had become convinced that all churches had become apostate. In 1897, Irvine had begun preaching independently, and began gathering the nucleus of what would become a notable sect, the only religious movement known to have originated in Ireland. Cooney was profoundly influenced by Irvine's vision of a return to the method of ministry as commanded in Matthew 10, and regarded Irvine as "a prophet raised