Maurice Coppinger

In his own lifetime, he inspired the phrase "to be issued with a Coppinger", i.e. to be served with a writ from the Court of Chancery (Ireland).

John's principal estate was at Glenville, a few miles from Cork city; he also owned property in County Kildare.

His death caused a lawsuit between Maurice, who was executor of the will, and his brother Robert, concerning ownership of the family lands in County Kildare.

Likewise, the abrupt termination of his short but lucrative career as counsel to the Revenue Commissioners (from 1780 to 1782) was a serious blow to him financially.

He eventually obtained a minor Government office, Clerk of the Ships, through the goodwill of the influential statesman John Beresford, the senior Revenue Commissioner, who understood that Coppinger was a bad financial manager.

He sold Glenville in the 1770s: this may have been because his wife, after several years of marriage, had still not produced a male heir, but it is more likely that he needed money to pay the costs of a protracted lawsuit against him by Theobald Wolfe and William Alcock, which resulted in a Court decree against him in 1778, requiring him to pay heavy damages.