Ciarán Lennon was born in Dublin in 1947. He studied at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin from 1963 to 1967. In 1993 he became an elected member of Aosdána. He lives in Dublin.

Since 1972 Lennon has had numerous solo exhibitions in museums and art galleries within Ireland and abroad including: the National Gallery of Ireland, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, the Chester Beaty Library, Dublin, the Ulster Museum and the Orchard Gallery, Derry. He has also had numerous one person exhibitions at the David Hendricks, the Oliver Dowling, the Kerlin and the Green on Red galleries in Dublin, the Fenderesky Gallery, Belfast, the Annely Juda Fine Art, London, the Gallerie Weinberger, Copenhagen and the Galerie Luhumier, Paris. In 2003 he had a one person exhibition at the Arken Museum of Contemporary Art in Copenhagen, and in 2009 had a solo exhibition, Jocasta, at the RHA Gallery in Dublin and at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris.

Lennon’s work has also been included in exhibitions representing contemporary Irish art at home and internationally including: Sense of Ireland, 1980, London, L’Imaginnaire Irlandais, Paris, the Pursuit of Painting, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Irish drawing, the Drawing Centre, New York. In 1993 he represented Ireland at the Sao Paulo Biennale in Brazil.

His works are in public and private collections in Ireland and abroad: the National Gallery of Ireland, Bank of Ireland, Contemporary Irish Art Society, The Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin, GPA collection, the Office of Public Works collection, Dublin, Kamarsky collection, New York, the Fogg Museum of Fine Art, Boston, USA, Arken Museum of Modern art, Copenhagen. Acquisitions in 2012 include two Arbitrary Colour Collections to the permanent Collection of Avenues ,The World School, New York, and Solo a ground aluminium painting by Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, England.