A painter born in London who studied at the Slade School, Kennedy was distinguished by his mythological painting. He died in St Ives at the young age of forty-six, having been made an Associate of the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1896, just two years before his death.  He had already been elected to the ROI in 1883, and his primary exhibition address remained in London.

His wife was Lucy KENNEDY (nee Marwood), who is also listed as a painter of figures and domestic subjects, and who exhibited primarily in London.