Edward Cooney

Edward Cooney
Edward Cooney (date unknown)
Born	(1867-02-11)11 February 1867 Enniskillen, Ireland
Died	20 June 1960(1960-06-20) (aged 93)
Resting place	Mildura, Victoria Australia
Occupation	Evangelist

Edward Cooney (1867–1960) was an Irish evangelist from the 1890s to the 1950s. Cooney was born in Eniskillen, 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 colorful style and public preaching, his name came to be associated with the entire movement. Later, as Irvine's ouster, he began to criticize 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.

Edward Cooney was born in 1867 in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Ireland (now a part of Northern 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 reexamine his own life, and he felt drawn to a closer relationship with God at this time.