Declan O'Connor is a native Co.Tipperary. After qualifying as a pharmacist he began practicing art in his spare time. In the early nineties O'Connor worked in earnest on a series of portraits, first the Irish Writers, the Seven Signatories of 1916 and also C.J. Haughey. Declan O'Connor painted under the pseudonym of Roderic O'Connor during this period in order to eliminate the confusion with his day job.

In the meantime he has given up his day job to work solely as an artist painting fulltime under his own name, Declan O'Connor. His work has turned to landscape and horses, especially horse fairs, and his style has since become more confident, looser and fluid in the style of Yeats.