He came to the
United States when 14 years old to live with relatives at
Albion, New York. He graduated from Albion Academy in 1870, and began the study of law at the office of John H. White at Albion. He was admitted to the bar in 1874, and commenced practice in Albion. He was a member of the Board of Education of the Village of Albion, and for seven years was Clerk to the Board of Supervisors of
Orleans County. On January 26, 1876, he married Elizabeth A. Bass. In 1890, he moved to Buffalo and formed a partnership with
William F. Sheehan and
Charles F. Tabor in the firm of Sheehan, Tabor, Cunneen & Coatsworth. In 1894, he became the senior member of Cunneen & Coatsworth. He was a delegate to the
1892 Democratic National Convention. At the
New York state election, 1902, he was elected
New York Attorney General on the
Democratic and
Prohibition tickets. He ran for re-election at the
New York state election, 1904, but was defeated. He died of
pneumonia, and was buried at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Albion, like his brother Cornelius Cunneen (1868–1890) who had drowned in the
Erie Canal. His wife Elizabeth, who died in 1917, was Protestant and so could not be buried with him. ==Sources==