Mooncoin

Mooncoin Móin Choinn
Town
Church at Mooncoin
Mooncoin Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 52°17′44″N 7°15′34″W / 52.29556°N 7.25944°W / 52.29556; -7.25944Coordinates: 52°17′44″N 7°15′34″W / 52.29556°N 7.25944°W / 52.29556; -7.25944
Country	Ireland
Province	Leinster
County	County Kilkenny
Barony	Iverk
Government
• Type	County Council
• Body	Kilkenny County Council
• Dáil Éireann	Carlow–Kilkenny
• European Parliament	Ireland South
Elevation	25 m (82 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	1,166
Time zone	GMT (UTC±00:00)
Irish Grid Reference	S 503 162
Website	www.kilkennycoco.ie

Mooncoin (Irish: Móin Choinn, meaning "Coyne’s Bogland") (pop. 1,000) is a census town in County Kilkenny, in Ireland. The population had increased to 1,166 at the 2011 census. Historically part of the Gaelic kingdom of Osraige, today it is in the far south of the county of Kilkenny, located in the valley of the River Suir. It is surrounded by the uplands of the Slievenamon and Comeragh Mountains, just 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of Waterford City along the N24 national primary road (Waterford to Limerick), and it is 48 kilometres (30 mi) south of Kilkenny.

The town's name derives from an anglicized version of the Irish "Móin Choinn" which means "Coyne’s Bogland". The song The Rose of Mooncoin by poet Watt Murphy, which has been adopted as the Kilkenny GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) anthem. The town has continually received high scores in the Tidy Towns competition.

While William Carrigan recorded the meaning as unknown, according to O'Kelly 1969 the town's name derives from an anglicized version of the Irish "Móin Choinn", with "móin" meaning "bogland" and the "coine" suffix meaning "Coyne" or "Choinn", so translated it is "Coyne’s Bogland". The Grant family, including Coyne Grant, were property owners in the area. Recorded as "Moincoin" in a ballad about the battle of Carrickshock, called "Carraig Seac" and made famous by the song 'The Rose of Mooncoin'. Mooncoin gives its name to a townland, and the Roman Catholic parish of Mooncoin.