Des MacHale was born in Castlebar, County Mayo in 1946. He won a scholarship to University College Galway where he studied Mathematics and Mathematical Physics. He was awarded a Ph.D in Mathematics from the University of Keele in 1972. University College Cork was where Des excelled in his teaching, starting as a temporary assistant lecturer in Mathematics in 1972. He is now Associate Professor of Mathematics at University College Cork, where he somehow found time to receive a Diploma in Geology in 1994. He lives in Cork with his wife and five children. Humour and humorous quotations are another of Des' passions.

He had his own series, The Comedians, on RTÉ Radio One from 1977 to 1989 and is a regular contributor to all forms of media on both mathematics and humour. He has had over thirty humour books published, including the hugely successful series of Wit books. He is famous for his defence of the joke against the politically correct, and is also a regular delegate at humour conferences the world over.