Career
In the latter year like all the senior judges in Ireland appointed under Queen Anne he was removed by the new administration. While allegations of corruption were made, the removal seems to have been a simple matter of politics. Although the Irish House of Commons passed a resolution that he had acted corruptly no further action seems to have been taken against him and he lived in peaceful retirement for many years.
He was born in Dublin, the eldest son of Michael Doyne and educated at the University of Dublin.
Sir Robert is mentioned in Teague Land: or A Merry Ramble to the Wild Irish (1698) and was a descendant of Rory Ó Duinn, lord of Úi Riagán in Laois. His branch of the family successfully made the transition from Gaelic-Irish to Anglo-Irish culture, and were based at Brittas.
A lawsuit concerning earlier generations of the family is preserved in The O Doyne Manuscript, which offers unique insight into Gaelic-Irish land use. In 1698 the Irish born publisher and author John Dunton gave a favourable picture of the Irish judiciary, including Doyne: "men whose reputation is such that no one complains of them".
