French graduated from TCD as a civil engineer in 1881 and joined the Board of Works in County Cavan as an Inspector of Drains. It is said that he wrote his best songs during this period. He also painted: French was a prolific painter of landscape watercolours, and during this period considered art to be his true vocation. In fact, when he became well-known later in his life, his paintings from his time as a civil engineer became fashionable and sought after. The volcano Krakatoa erupted in 1883 while French was in Cavan, and the particles of volcanic ash caused dramatic sunsets all over the world. French painted some of his finest landscapes in this period as he captured the spectacular skies. French exhibited his pictures in the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) and sometimes gave them short poems for titles, such as "Only the sullen seas that flow/ And ebb forever more,/ But tarry awhile kind heart and, lo!/ A light on that lonely shore."