Boyle, Richard (d. 1645), Church of Ireland archbishop of Tuam, was the second son of Michael Boyle, merchant, of London, and his wife, Jane, daughter of William Peacock, and was elder brother of Michael Boyle, bishop of Waterford (1619–35). He appears to have been admitted to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, in 1590, and graduated BA in 1594–5 and MA in 1598. He was incorporated MA at Oxford University 16 July 1601. Though sometimes described as rector of Finedon, Northamptonshire, in 1606, his cousin Richard Boyle (qv), earl of Cork, spoke of him as a schoolmaster at Barnet before Cork's assistance enabled him to obtain ecclesiastical promotion in Ireland. He was appointed warden of Youghal College 24 February 1603, dean of Waterford 2 May 1604 and archdeacon of Limerick 3 May 1605, at which time he was described as chaplain to Sir Henry Brouncker (qv), lord president of Munster. He is sometimes described as dean of Tuam (from 1604); by 1615 he also held the Cork prebend of Carrigaline (Beaver).
Boyle was named bishop of Cork, with the dioceses of Cloyne and Ross held in commendam on 20 August 1620 (patent 24 October), and with the right to retain his other livings save that of dean of Waterford; he was consecrated 20 November 1620. On 14 October 1621 Cloyne diocese was formally united to that of Cork. As bishop, Boyle was praised by the 1633 visitation and was noted for undertaking the repair of churches or consecration of new ones. By 1634 he was caught up in the contest between Lord Deputy Wentworth (qv) and the earl of Cork over the profits made by the latter from leases of church property, notably that of the college of Youghal. His actions as warden, and those of his brother Michael as a fellow, were impugned as despoiling the church for Cork's benefit, while his cooperation in the crown's repossession provoked Cork's fury towards him. He also assisted in reestablishing the financial basis of Cloyne diocese, allowing it to reemerge as a distinct bishopric after his translation to the archdiocese of Tuam on 30 May 1638. On 12 June 1641 he submitted a remonstrance to parliament on behalf of his clergy, complaining of the growing strength of catholicism in the diocese. The insurrection in that year saw him take refuge in Galway until 1642; the marquis of Clanricarde later complained that he ‘quitted’ his ‘fair and strong castle’ at Tuam ‘when there was no appearance of danger near him’ (Memoirs of Clanricarde, 20). Thence he may have travelled to London. By 1645 he was in Cork and he died there 19 March 1645, being buried in a chapel in the cathedral, as he had arranged several years earlier. He had married Martha Wright, daughter of Richard or John Wright of Catherine Hill, Surrey, and had nine daughters and two sons, including the future primate Michael Boyle (qv).