[1][2] Boyle was the son of Henry Boyle, 3rd Earl of Shannon and his wife, Sarah, daughter of John Hyde of Castle Hyde[1][2] and his wife, Sarah Burton.
[4] The Reform Act 1832 (including the Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1832) increased the number of individuals entitled to vote, increasing the size of electorate by 50–80%, and allowing a total of 653,000 adult males (around one in five) to vote, in a population of some 14 million.
[5] In the 1832 general election which followed, Boyle failed to be re-elected, defeated by Feargus O'Connor, a leader of the Chartist movement, and Garrett Standish Barry.
[7] His father-in-law was a son of Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford and his wife Lady Isabella Fitzroy.
[8] His mother-in-law was a daughter of the Reverend George Hamilton, Canon of Windsor (1718–1787) and his wife Elizabeth Onslow.