[2] Robert was one of the founders of the village of Swanlinbar, County Cavan, which is partially named after him, according to Jonathan Swift, who states that "an" represents the "aund" in "Saunders".
[5] In 1682 he acquired from the Roman Catholic Hoveden family their substantial lands in County Laois at Tankardstown, Ballyleheane, and Clonpierce, which he held as a tenant of the Earl of Anglesey.
During the political turbulence of the years 1688-90 the Hovedens, who now claimed that they had been wrongfully dispossessed because of their religion, briefly recovered the lands.
Robert was back in possession by 1691: but the complex legal situation led to litigation between the Saunders, Hoveden, and Anglesey families which dragged on into the nineteenth century.
He is best remembered for building the impressive family home, Saunders Grove, near Baltinglass, County Wicklow.