[2] He retained his duties at St. John's until February 1885, when he became pastor of St. Patrick Church in the same city and held that position for 25 years (until he went to Louisville).

[3] He succeeded the late Bishop William George McCloskey, at whose funeral O'Donaghue had preached the previous September.

Over the next 14 years, he guided the Catholics of central Kentucky through difficulties like World War I and the 1918 influenza pandemic.

"[6] For his efforts and those of the religious sisters and Knights of Columbus in Louisville during the pandemic, General Fred Thaddeus Austin of Camp Zachary Taylor wrote him a public letter of gratitude.

[7] Given his advanced age and ill health, O'Donaghue requested a coadjutor bishop to succeed him, and received 36-year-old John A. Floersh in February 1923.