Le Fanu attended Trinity College Dublin in 1833 where he studied classics. He later participated in legal studies at King's Inns in London. 

"Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed., vol. 23, Gale, 2004, pp. 206-208. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3404708232/GVRL?u=viva_jmu&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=0555404a.