Francis Joseph McCarthy was born in 1910 in Sydney, Australia. He received his education in California, Nevada, and Arizona, and attended Stanford University from 1928-1929. He later studied briefly at the California School of Fine Arts, but the bulk of his professional training came from working in a number of architectural offices, including the firms of Charles Dean (Sacramento) and William Wilson Wurster (San Francisco). He opened his own practice in 1938 and earned his certificate as a registered architect in 1941. During World War II he was with the Rubber Redevelopment Corporation in Brazil.

His work encompassed numerous residential, municipal, and commercial commissions throughout California, including a hospital and health center for the County of Inyo, alterations to the Palace Hotel (San Francisco), and the Electronic Engineering Associates Building (San Carlos). In addition, McCarthy specialized in library buildings, designing the Stanford University Library, Santa Rosa Public Library, and the San Leandro and Inyo County Public Libraries, among others. His Downieville house for W. Coy Filmer built over a creek received some notable attention.

Also active in professional associations, McCarthy was named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1957. He served as Art Commissioner of the City of San Francisco from 1949-1951 and lectured in architecture at Stanford University in the late 1950s. McCarthy was also a founding member of Telesis, an organization formed in 1939 by design professionals of varying disciplines who were interested in invigorating city and regional planning in the Bay Area.