Lance Corporal William Coffey
The background of this North Irish Horseman is not known for certain, but there is a strong likelihood that he was the William Coffey born on 26 December 1892 at Coolshanagh, Monaghan, County Monaghan, the eleventh of thirteen children of asylum clerk Robert Coffey and his wife Mary Elizabeth (née McKee). At the time of the 1911 Census he was living at Coolshanagh with his parents and three of his eleven surviving siblings, and working as a coal and timber apprentice. In 1912 he joined the Freemasons (Lodge 55, Monaghan), his occupation recorded as a clerk.
Coffey enlisted in the North Irish Horse at some point following the declaration of war in August 1914 (regimental number unknown). He trained at the regiment's Antrim reserve camp until November 1916, when he and around 100 other North Irish Horsemen volunteered to transfer to the Royal Irish Rifles. The formal transfer took place on 7 December (Coffey was issued regimental number 40861), and on that day the men embarked for France. There they were posted to the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles, joining it on the Somme front on 12 December.
Coffey remained with the Royal Irish Rifles throughout the war. Between 6 and 15 November 1918 he was transferred to the Military Mounted Police (No. P/16703).
In May 1922 he emigrated to Canada. He died in British Columbia on 31 May 1982.
His name is included on the Freemasons of Ireland Roll of Honour: 1914-1919 and on a First World War Honour Roll in St Patrick's Church of Ireland, Monaghan (below). Three of Coffeys six brothers also appear on the Roll: Lieut-Colonel Richard Coffey DSO, Private John Coffey and Private Thomas Coffey, who all served in the Royal Army Medical Corps.
My thanks to Robert Mitchell for pointing out the reference to Coffey in the Freemasons Roll and for providing some of the information above..
Images sourced from the Irish War Memorials site.
This page last updated 12 August 2025.