The son of Jewish parents of mixed Russian and Spanish descent, Kernoff was born in London but moved to Dublin at an early age when his father opted to begin a cabinet-making business there. Kernoff's artistic training began with night classes at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art. Upon winning the prestigious Taylor Scholarship however, in 1923, he became a day student and henceforth devoted all his energies to art.

Three years later he began exhibiting at the Royal Hibernian Academy, continuing to do so nearly every year for the next five decades. He also had two solo exhibitions with...