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Coakley is a name of multiple origin in Ireland.

Firstly it is the usual modern form of the fine old West Cork surname MacKeighley - Mac Caochlaoich in Irish - which still survives around Dunmanway and Bandon in the more Irish sounding form of Kehilly. This has in some cases almost inevitably been absorbed by the more common surname Kelly. In 1584 the MacKeighelys were among the followers of Florence MacCarthy. In one Fiant of 1601 there are no fewer than 19 of the name ranging in station from gentleman to labourer and shoemaker. The majority are described as yeomen and husbandmen, some of their names being veritable pedigrees in themselves e.g. Diarmod Oge Mac Dermody MacTeige Cowy MacKeioghely.

Having regard to the number referred to therein it is somewhat surprising not to find the name figuring in the 1659 "census", either as MacKeighley or Coakley. The latter form, however, was of more recent invention. Miss Cecile O'Rahilly in her edition of Five Seventeenth Century Poems suggests that the name of the poet Donnehadh Mac Maoilfhiaclaigh alias Mac an Chaoilfhiaclaigh may be a form of that which is now Coakley. There are at least twenty two records relating to the name Coakley in County Kerry.

Coakley may also be a phonetic rendering of the name Colclough which is so pronounced. The family of Colclough, which was established in Co. Wexford in the sixteenth century, came to Ireland from Staffordshire in England. Anthony Colclough acquired Tintern Abbey in 1575: during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries they were very prominent in that county and, though newcomers compared with the earlier Anglo-Normans and faithful servants to the crown under Elizabeth 1, they were classed as "old English" and no less than 14 Colcloughs suffered under the Williamite confiscation as "Irish Papists." Occasionally, however, one was found on the other side, as for example Capt. Thomas Coakley who was rewarded in 1656 for his activity in "apprehending" tories. Several of them held important offices in Counties Wexford and Kilkenny in the reign of James II and two at least were officers in his army. John Colclough (b. 1769), a Catholic landlord, was hanged on Wexford Bridge for his leading part in the Insurrection of 1798. Caesar Colclough (1766-1824), son of Sir Vesey Colclough of Tintern Abbey and M.P. for Wexford, was in France at the time of the Franch Revolution which he supported; another distinguished himself while serving with the Irish Brigade at Fontenoy. The family was still in possession of Tintern Abbey at the end of the last century when they possessed an estate of 13,000 acres in Co. Wexford.

Heraldry

Coakley (Munster, Ireland) Arms: Ermine on a chief Sable a lion's head erased between two eagles displayed Or. Crest: A lion passant Or in the dexter paw an eagle's leg erased Gules. Motto: None recorded.

Colclough, Colkley or Coakley (Ireland. The common ancestor of this family is Sir Anthony Colclough, originally of Bluerton and Woolstanton, Staffordshire, England, who settled in Ireland in 1542 as Captain of the Pensioners. He was granted the house, lands and abbey of the dissolved Tintern monastery, County Wexford. Branches of this family are also found at Duffry Hall, Wexford and Carlow, Queens County and other parts of Leinster. Caesar Colclough, eighth in descent from Sir Anthony, died without heir in 1842 and the estates devolved on his cousin and heiress Mrs. Rosborough-Colclough) Arms: Argent five eagles in cross Sable. Crest: A demi eagle displayed Sable ducally gorged Or. Motto: his calcabo gentes.