Richard Cantillon was born in Ballyheigue, County Kerry in the south west of Ireland probably between 1680 and 1690.

Cantillon formed part of a large-scale emigration of Irish Catholics to France after the signing of the Treaty of Limerick, an event that con­cluded the Jacobite/Williamite war in Ireland. Cantillon’s uncle was the Jacobite banker, Daniel Arthur, a man who had been largely instrumental in transferring the financial capital of the Irish Jacobites out of Ireland. This connection probably enabled him to be introduced into the world of bankers and financiers.