In 1967 he became Registrar and Administrator of RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art), a position of influence over generations of acting and theatre production students which he held for 20 years until his retirement.

He served briefly in the ranks as a gunner before an emergency commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Indian Army Service Corps on 17 August 1941.

[3][12] He later described his war experiences as "part grim", but he found occasions to organise entertainments and was able frequently to broadcast his poetry on All India Radio.

After demobilisation O'Donoghue returned to the stage and acting, finding work at first with the repertory company Aurora Productions Limited, then resident at the Little Theatre in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

[13] In the summer of 1949 he moved on to the Palace Theatre, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex to join the Harry Hanson Court Players repertory company.

1951 found O'Donoghue in a farce at the Pavilion Theatre, Torquay, Devon[16] and in a thriller at the Opera House in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

[22] A national tour and a short season at the Duchess Theatre in the West End in April 1963, named Savagery and Delights, in which Agnes Bernelle presented the songs and poems of German satirists from Frank Wedekind to Bertolt Brecht was not much appreciated.

It achieved some controversy - and welcome publicity - when Bernelle's husband, Desmond Leslie, physically attacked the critic Bernard Levin live on television in protest at his review of the show.

[23][24] A children's play, New Clothes for the Emperor by Nicholas Stuart Gray, at The Royal, Stratford, followed in 1963,[25] and then a comedy, Domino by Marcel Achard with Denholm Elliott and Judy Campbell in the cast.

[26] There was a run of this show in Brighton and it was booked to open in the West End at the Savoy Theatre but O'Donoghue and Farjeon decided at the last minute not to bring it in to London at that stage, "because they were not satisfied that they had achieved its true potential".

Subsequently, another comedy, Every Other Evening, an adaptation of a French play commissioned by O'Donoghue and Farjeon, with mother and daughter leads, Margaret and Julia Lockwood, toured the UK for eight weeks in 1964 before having a respectable run at the Phoenix Theatre in the West End.

[28][29] April 1965 saw the opening at the New Arts Theatre in London of Kindly Monkeys, the first play by Milton Hood Ward, to generally poor reviews.

The show, devised by O'Donoghue, was a narrative reading from the letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett, presenting the story of their courtship and marriage in their own words.

[36] At the beginning of 1967 O'Donoghue answered an advertisement for a new senior management position at RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art), one of the leading drama schools in London.

[38] Lack of money had made the appointment of an Administrator impossible until the 1960s when the Academy began to benefit from funds arising from the will of the playwright George Bernard Shaw.

[39] O'Donoghue occupied a ground floor office off the entrance hall of RADA's building at 62-64 Gower Street, London W1.

In 1986 he supervised the conversion of a rehearsal and teaching room into a small studio theatre providing experience of open stage and in-the-round production.

[43][44] He was also Secretary of the Vanbrugh Theatre Club[45] which facilitated audiences for 20 major student productions a year playing to an average of 92% of capacity at evening performances.

O'Donoghue and the Academy's Principal were described by the newspaper as "humane men who love the theatre and wish to encourage its eager young acolytes, yet it is their duty to preside over what must be one of the most rigorously exclusive institutions in the land.

He later described him as "a tall, lean man wearing a smart blazer, Garrick Club tie and Jermyn Street suede slip-ons ... A smell of polished leather and old books hangs in the air around him.

[56] O'Donoghue organised the establishment of further diploma courses in the following years, mostly in technical theatre disciplines, including property making, scenic painting and design, and stage carpentry.

He also helped to finance the 1927 building on Gower Street with a gift of £5000,[44] and in the 1950s there had been considerable legal wrangling and controversy, in which RADA was deeply involved, over the settling of Shaw's estate.

[64] Despite the fact that he knew he would be long retired before a redevelopment or a move could be completed, O'Donoghue was heavily involved in the setting up of the necessary working party and in the laying of plans for the future.

[68] In 1990 O'Donoghue was appointed Honorary Secretary of the Society of Designer-Craftsmen which had represented professional designer-makers across various craft disciplines, including wood, metal, glass and textiles, since 1887.

[69] He enjoyed continuing to deal with creative people and encouraging young talent while at the same time organising the Society into efficient working order.