Sir Robert Doyne

Sir Robert Doyne (1651–1733) was member of the Irish House of Commons for New Ross from 1692 to !695, and later a distinguished judge who served as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer from 1695 to 1703 and Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas from 1703 to 1714. 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. He married Jane Whitfield in 1684, she died in 1712.

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".

References

• Kenneth Nicholls (1983) The O Doyne (Ó Duinn) Manuscript, Coimisiún Láimhscríbhinní na hÉireann, Dublin.
• John Dunton (2003) Teague Land: or A Merry Ramble to the Wild Irish (1698), ed. Andrew Carpenter. Dublin: Four Courts. ISBN 978-1-85182-684-1

External links

• Baron Nehemiah Donnellan
• County Carlow Families
• House of Lords Journal Volume 16 - 14 March 1700
• thePeerage.com