Robert James Enraght-Moony was a native of Doon, King’s County. His father owned a large estate and was a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for the county. The Moony family has enjoyed a continuous history, stretching back over a thousand years, in Doon.
According to a profile of the artist in The Westmeath Independent in 1909 the family went abroad when Robert was about five years old. They travelled on the Continent, firstly visiting Eisenach, in Thuringia, Germany, where they lived under the shadow of Wartburg Castle, where Martin Luther was imprisoned. They then went to Dresden and stayed for about a year, and from there they went to Lausanne where Robert first began to take an interest in art. His mother, Angelina (nee Maunsell) used to take him with her when she went out sketching, and it was at her side that he received his first art lessons.
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