Robert Lawlor was born in 1985 in the Foxhill area of Coolock, Dublin. Raised in a working-class family, little is publicly documented about his early childhood, but Lawlor entered the world of crime as a teenager. He first gained the attention of Gardaí (Irish police) at age eighteen, beginning with minor offenses such as joyriding. Lawlor was a father of three children and at one time described himself as an "unemployed fitness trainer." However, as his criminal record grew—eventually reaching 125 convictions, 71 for road traffic offenses—he became a notorious figure in Dublin’s gangland. Lawlor’s personal life was marked by addiction; he was known to be a heavy user of cocaine and steroids in his later years, fueling a reputation for volatility and violence. He lived in various locations including Dublin and County Meath, sometimes moving to avoid threats from criminal rivals. Despite the chaos in his personal life, Lawlor was able to maintain family relationships, with his children and partner playing central roles even as his notoriety in organized crime grew.

Lawlor’s criminal career escalated from petty theft to become one of Ireland’s most feared gangland killers. His rise through the underworld was marked by his willingness to serve as a gunman for hire, suspected in multiple murders, though he was never convicted for homicide. His first major sentence came in 2005, when he received a seven-year prison term for possession of cocaine and handling a stolen vehicle. That same year, he was a suspect in the murder of Mark Byrne, who was shot dead while on day release from Mountjoy Prison. Lawlor’s name was also connected to the shooting of Anthony Ayodeji in 2008 and the killing of his former associate, David "Fred" Lynch, in 2009—cases that remained unsolved due to lack of evidence. In 2010, Lawlor reportedly shot Lynch’s associate Noel Deans, who had bragged about being present at Lynch’s murder. Lawlor’s suspected involvement in violent crime extended to the murder of Ken Finn in 2018, who was gunned down amid gangland rivalries.

His criminal record also included robberies and frequent run-ins with police, including a 2013 armed cash robbery at a McDonald’s and driving stolen cars, resulting in further prison sentences. In 2016, while in custody for driving offenses, Lawlor attempted an unsuccessful escape during a hospital visit. Lawlor was also entangled in the long-running Drogheda feud, a violent conflict between rival gangs in Drogheda, County Louth. His brother-in-law, Richie Carberry, was killed in the feud in 2019, and Lawlor himself was stabbed in jail in 2018—allegedly on the orders of rival gang leader Cornelius Price.

Lawlor became the prime suspect in one of Ireland’s most shocking gangland crimes: the abduction, mutilation, and murder of 17-year-old Keane Mulready-Woods in January 2020. Mulready-Woods’s dismembered remains were found in multiple locations, some accompanied by flip-flops as a symbolic threat, linking the murder directly to Lawlor and the ongoing feud. Despite intense police investigations, Lawlor was never formally charged for the murder, as witnesses were unwilling to testify. Lawlor’s own violent end came on April 4, 2020, when he was shot dead outside a house in Ardoyne, north Belfast, in what police described as a targeted killing linked to ongoing gangland disputes. His murder was met with open celebration by rival gangs and marked the end of one of Ireland’s most notorious criminal careers. In December 2020, two men were charged with Lawlor’s murder, but the full story behind his killing remains shrouded in silence and fear.