Michael George Brennan, subject and landscape painter, was born and educated in Castlebar County, Mayo, Ireland where his talents were noted by Charles O'Donal, afterwards a police magistrate in Dublin (Strickland, p.83). At age fifteen, he was sent to the Dublin Society's School and later to the Royal Hibernian Academy where his skills where honed. He later traveled to London, working on several publications there, including Fun, a rival to Punch.

Ill health in the form of typhoid fever led Brennan back to Ireland and later prompted a further relocation to the warmer climes of Italy. Settling first in Rome, Brennan continued to send back paintings for exhibition in the Royal Academy between the years 1865-1878. Strick...