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