Samuel Walsh was born in London, ENGLAND to Irish parents. He was educated in London and Limerick. He lived in Limerick from 1968 to 1990 and he now lives and works in Co. Clare.

He studied art at the Limerick School of Art and philosophy at Mary Immaculate College of Education, Limerick. He took his M.F.A. at the National College of Art & Design, Dublin.

He is closely associated with the beginnings of the Limerick Exhibition of Visual Art (EV+A) and was founder of Quadrant, an annual exhibition for young artists held in the Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick which ran from 1993 until 2007. 

He is an ardent promoter of contemporary drawing and to this end he founded in 1987 with support from friends, the National Collection of Contemporary Drawing that was gifted by them to the Limerick City Gallery of Art in 1991. The collection has continued to grow as new works are added to it on a regular basis and also contains drawings on permanent loan from the Arts Council of Ireland's Drawing Collection.

In 1997 he was elected a member of Aosdána, a body set up by the Irish Government through the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon to recognise outstanding contributions by individuals to the creative arts in Ireland. He served as a member of Aosdána's Toscaireacht from 2007-2009. He is a Fellow of the Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Ballycastle, Co. Mayo.

He has been selected for international artist residencies, most notably in SWITZERLAND in 1990, FRANCE in 1995 & 2002 and the USA in 2009 (see also Residencies page).

He taught drawing at the Limerick School of Art & Design from 1987 to 1997. In 2005 he was the Professor of Drawing for the Autumn semester at the Pont-Aven School of Contemporary Art, Brittany, FRANCE. He has also been a visiting lecturer to this college and to the National College of Art & Design, Dublin and the Burren College of Art, Co. Clare. He taught on the Drawing Studies Course at the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, annually between 2008-2010.

In May, 2009 he gave a lecture as part of a month long highlighting of the National Gallery of Ireland's drawing collection entitled: 'Why do Artists Draw?'.

In 2010 he features in the documentary film 'Aosdána', made by Fubar Film and directed by Fintan Connolly.