[5] After working briefly in commercial art, he entered the United States Air Force, where he was appointed Flight Commander and then spent a tour in Libya, where he was assigned the duties of a Combat Artist during the French-Algerian War.

[5] After leaving the USAF, he worked for a time at the Doubleday & Co. publishing house, being promoted to Managing Editor of Dolphin Books.

He taught at the Brooklyn Museum School of Art for a few years[7] and was then offered the opportunity to teach at his alma mater, but he decided against it and moved instead with his wife and young son to a wilderness cabin in upstate New York in the late 1970s.

He has also experimented in various styles, from veristic (his St Brendan sculpture) to abstract (his Cathedral windows) though he has always returned to his own brand of neo-surrealism.

As explained in a lengthy full-page set of articles about his "Mists of Time" exhibition that traveled the country under the auspices of the Siamsa Tíre Theatre and Arts Centre in County Kerry in 1995, he "pursues his own vision, on his own terms, moving from painting to sculpting to printmaking, from realistic to abstract to allegory, working in whatever style fulfilled his need to express the idea or emotion he wished to portray".

"[11] O'Donoghue/Ross' graphic work was mainly produced on multiple copper plates for each image, using etching, engraving, aquatint, mezzotint, drypoint and occasionally monoprints.

"[14] O'Donoghue/Ross began working in three dimension by modelling in the lost wax process, then moved to direct carving in stone and wood.

It was officially dedicated by Bishop Murphy in September 2004, with the crowd standing against force 9 winds, much as the sculpture depicts the Saint.

"[20] Offered the opportunity to create stained glass windows for St Joseph's Church in Fenit, County Kerry was O'Donoghue/Ross' introduction to this medium.

Since then he received private commissions and his favourite pieces were the pair of windows placed in St Mary's Cathedral in Killarney, entitled Dawn & Dusk, with the simple yet profound statement placed at the bottom of the panels 'Why is there Anything' and 'Instead of Nothing'.