Seán Hutton was born in Dublin in November 1940. He attended the National School in Hacketstown, Co. Carlow, St Mary’s College, CSSp, Rathmines, University College Dublin, and Hull University, England.

It was in the years 1963–66 that he developed an interest in modern poetry and began to write poetry in English and Irish. Because of the interest of friends such as Pádraig Ó Snodaigh, Aogán Ó Muircheartaigh, Máirtín Ó Direáin, Cathleen Maude and Pearse Hutchinson in his Irish language writing, the volume of his writing in the Irish language began to increase.

In 1966 he was awarded a research scholarship in History at Hull University and, following that, he obtained a job in the History department of a grammar school in Bridlington where he continued to be employed until 1988. It was in Bridlington that he completed work on his first collection of poetry in 1980, followed by two further collections in 1983 and 1986. It was in London that the two further collections he produced, were completed in 1993 and 2011, close to London Road from where the Southwark Irish Literary Society initiated a wing of the Irish Literary Revival in the 1880s. One of Seán’s collections, Seachrán Ruairí agus Dánta Eile (Coiscéim, 1986) was awarded Duais Sheáin Uí Ríordáin.

In 1988 Seán had come to London to take up a new post as Executive Director of the British Association for Irish Studies, a post in which he continued until 1992.

From 1989 Seán has been a member of the Council of The Irish Texts Society, and served as its Secretary from 1992 - 2020.

From 1994 to 2008 Seán has worked for the charity Irish in Britain (previously Federation of Irish Societies), originally as Community Development Officer and from 2006 as Policy Officer.

Apart from writing poetry, Seán wrote many essays and articles for Irish-language publications. For a while, he had an Irish-language column in the Irish Post. He delivered many lectures also; many of which were very pertinent for the Irish community in Britain.