Early Life
He was the son of James and Anne Halpin (née Halbert), the youngest of 13 children. His father, James, was the proprietor of a small tavern (built 1702) and the family were reasonably well off. From an early age Robert showed a fondness for the sea. He received his early education at a private school nearby at Leitrim Place, possibly that of Ellen White, The Murrough, recorded by Slaters Directory, 1846. Halpin appears to have shown little interest in formal education and with his imagination fuelled by tales of faraway lands recounted by mariners in his fathers tavern, he left home at age 10 to become a seafarer.
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