Captain James Arthur Coey
James Arthur Coey was born on 18 June 1893 at Meadowbank, Whitehouse, Belfast, son of Edward Coey, Gentleman and JP for County Antrim, and his wife Mary Robertson Dunlop Coey (nee Hamilton). Educated at Shrewsbury School, at the time of the 1911 Census he was living at Drumnadrough, Whitehouse, with his parents, four of his five siblings and an aunt, and was employed as an apprentice weaving factory manager.
Coey enlisted in the North Irish Horse on 8 August 1914 (No.962) and embarked for France with C Squadron just two weeks later. In a letter from Lieutenant Samuel Barbour Combe (24 September 1914) the officer commented positively on his qualities:
Greer [&] McNeil the two gentlemen recruits who you saw at the Northern Counties Hotel have proved a great success. They are two of the best men I have got. Also I have a son of Dr Darling in my Troop and a young Coey – all good men.
Coey was also mentioned a number of times in the diary of Norman Darling.
He was commissioned in the field on 21 July 1915, remaining with the North Irish Horse. The Belfast News-Letter of 23 July 1915 noted:
Mr. J. A. Coey, who has been appointed a second-lieutenant on probation in the North Irish Horse, is a son of Mr. Edward Coey, J.P., Merville, Whitehouse. Second-Lieutenant Coey has been at the front with the North Irish Horse since shortly after the commencement of the war. His brother, Second-Lieutenant George H. Coey, 3rd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, who was recently wounded in the right arm and left hand, is making good progress towards recovery. Another brother, Lieutenant E. Coey, is at Seaford with the 15th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (North Belfast Volunteers).
On 16 January 1916 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant.
On 25 September 1916 Coey left the regiment, having been attached to the 10th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles. On occasions during 1917 and early 1918 he acted as captain while in command of a company of the battalion.
Coey was Mentioned in Despatches for distinguished and gallant service during the period 25 September 1917 to 25 February 1918.
During 1918 (perhaps after the 10th Battalion was disbanded in February) he returned to the North Irish Horse.
He resigned his commission on 16 March 1920.
On 10 April 1926 he married Laura Lincoln of Boston USA in the American Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, Paris.
He re-enlisted in the North Irish Horse at the beginning of the Second World War and was immediately given an emergency commission. At the end of 1940 he was given the rank of temporary major, substantive captain, later reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
Larne Times, 17 February 1940
In November 1958 Coey and his wife emigrated to the United States, settling at Rhode Island, New York. He died on 2 March 1973 and was buried in the Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, Rhode Island.
His name is included on the Presbyterian Church in Ireland's Roll of Honour.
Coey's three brothers also served in the First World War. Captain Edward Coey served in the Royal Irish Rifles and Machine Gun Corps. Lieutenant George Hamilton Coey was wounded while serving in the Royal Irish Rifles. Midshipman John Smiley Coey died when his ship, H.M.S. Formidable, was sunk by a German submarine on 1 January 1915.
Larne Times, 22 May 1915
Cemetery image sourced from the Find a Grave website, via Robert Mitchell.
This page last updated 5 July 2026.