Prohibited by the Penal Laws from obtaining a liberal education at home, he studied successfully on the continent.
He considered a military career and applied for a commission in the French army, but dissuaded by some friends, decided instead to train for the priesthood at the Irish College, Paris.
[3] With the failure of the French Expédition d'Irlande, Coppinger issued a pastoral letter in 1797 urging his clergy to offset "the suggestion of designing men" and "confound the malice of agitators".
[5] He stood up for the rights of Catholics, in opposing the 1800 Act of Union, and tithes tenant farmers were forced to pay.
[citation needed] In September 1820, he attended the episcopal consecration of John England, first bishop of the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina, in St. Finbar's church in Cork.