Kenneth O'Halloran comes from a small village in the west of Ireland, where his father is the local undertaker. He completed a course in commercial photography at Dun Laoghaire College of Art and Design (now IADT) in Dublin, and after graduating went on to work with Press 22, a photographic agency in Limerick. He then freelanced for a time in Dublin, before joining Independent Newspapers, where he worked for 15 years, ranging from news to sports photography, with regular trips to cover the conflict in Northern Ireland, and to European and World soccer championships.