The remarkable
extent to which this name and its synonyms appertain to the province
of Connacht, and particularly to the counties of Galway and Mayo,
is illustrated by the following birth statistics:
Form of
Name
Total births
registered in one year
Connacht
Leinster
Munster
Ulster
Coyne
54
39
13
1
1
Kyne
27
27
0
0
0
Coen
27
21
1
2
3
Kilcoyne
15
15
0
0
The majority of the 14 born in Leinster were probably of Connacht
families settled in the metropolitan area of Dublin. The first
three names given above are variant anglicized forms of the
Irish O Cadhain , a minor sept origionating near Partry , Co.Mayo.
Coen ( and especially the form Cohen ) appears Jewish , but
when met in Ireland it is almost always a true Irish name; it
may , however , often be an anglicized form of O' Comhdhain
( also of north Connacht ) and not of O' Cadhain. There is another
synonym of Coyne which is found around Castlebar , viz.
Barnacle , a surname which was adopted because the Irish
word cadhan means wild goose. Kilcoyne is definitely found in
the birth registrations as an alias of Coyne , or perhaps it
would be more accurate to say that Coyne is an alias of Kilcoyne.
Kilcoyne , however , as a rule is not the same name in Irish
as Coyne and Kyne , but comes from Mac Giolla Chaoine , i.e
son of the follower of St. Caoin. Hardiman states that the Quins
, one of the assimilated families of Galway City , are in fact
Coynes whose name was altered to Quin The fifteen births recorded
for Kilcoyne as above were all in the counties Mayo and Sligo.
The Coens were nearly all in Galway and Roscommon. The name
is more closely associated with literary than with political
or other activities ; apart from the distinguished Jesuit ,
Father Coyne of our own day , Joseph Sterling Coyne (
1803 - 1868 ), was a very well known playwright and satirist
and was one of the founders of the English Punch ; Rev. Joseph
Coyne , P.P. ( 1839 - 1891 ) , was also an author of repute
and contributor to the "Nation" , as was John Coen ( born circa
1820 ).
