Robert Quigg was born in the townland of Ardihannon in the Parish of Billy, near the Giants Causeway, County Antrim on February 28^th, 1885. His father, Robert Quigg senior, worked as a boatman and tour guide at the famous Giants Causeway.  Robert attended the Giants Causeway National School were he was taught by David McConaghy,  who incidently created  the head on the rocks at the Stookans.

Like most young teenage boys from the rural areas of the time, he left school and sought work on the local farms. He worked for a number of years on Forsyth’s farm at Turfnahun and also on the Macnaghten Estate at Dunderave. Robert was a prominent member of the local Orange Lodge (Aird LOL 1195) and played in the flute band, he was also a member of the Royal Black Institution and the William Johnston Memorial RBP 559.

In 1912 with calls for home rule, the Ulster crisis deepened - a perceived threat was seen by Protestants to Ulster’s constitutional position coming from Irish Nationalism and the British Liberal Party which in turn led to the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force. The UVF at that time was a legal force which had been empowered to carry out drilling and military preparations, providing it was to uphold the constitution. It was formed into nine divisions based on county, which in turn were divided into battalions, companies and platoons.

Robert Quigg joined shortly after its formation in January, 1913 and became commander of the Bushmills Volunteers. The UVF membership at that time numbered over 100,000 with an estimated 40,000 bearing arms.