Doyle had the distinction of being the last person executed in England for attempted murder.
A native of County Mayo, he was a travelling glazier, and was in the habit of travelling with his partner, Jane Brogine. During a rest at Church Lawton, he battered her with a stone, to the point where if she survived she would be brain damaged for life.
Hanged 27th August 1861 outside Chester prison, his body was buried in a Churchyard rather than the Castle precincts, as he was not convicted of murder.