Father George James Bradley was an employee of the London Midland & Scottish Railway Company and later of the Ports & Docks Board. His mother Mary Gough worked for the Guinness brewery.
From 1959 to 1988 he taught at University College Dublin, becoming in 1984 Associate Professor of Music.
In 1955 he received his Bachelor of Music degree from University College Dublin.
He studied the piano, harmony and counterpoint at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and obtained a Licentiate in piano from Trinity College, London.