O’Donoghue was born in 1953 in Manchester of British-Irish descent, spending much of his youth in County Mayo. Studied at Goldsmith’s College, University of London, graduating in 1982. The discovery of different histories of place, events and memories, such as that of his mother’s family in County Mayo, or of his father’s experience as a soldier in WW2, has contributed to his approach to making work. He once explained that, in contrast to Lucian Freud’s deliberate decision to avoid ‘the tyranny of the past’ and paint in the now, he consciously wants to look behind himself. He has said “I’m looking at [such a] series of experiences over time”. (text from Marlborough Gallery).