O'Donoghue first lined out with Kerry at minor level in 1976. He had little success as Kerry lost out to Cork in the Munster final.[3]
Under 21
He moved to the Under 21 team straight out of the minor grade. He made his first appearance in the 1978 All-Ireland semi-final win over Louth.[4]
He played in the 1979 Munster Quarter-final loss to Cork at Left Half Forward scoring a point.[5]
He was again Left Half Forward in 1980 when Kerry had a surprise loss to Limerick in the Munster Quarter-final.[6]
Junior
He lined out with the Kerry Junior team in 1983. He won a Munster Junior Football Championship after a win over Cork where he scored three points.[7] After overcoming Dublin in the Home All-Ireland final, Kerry faced Yorkshire. He scored four points in a 0-15 to 0-02 win to pick up an All-Ireland medal.[8]
Senior
He joined the senior team during the 1979–80 National Football League where he played in three games.[9] He was part of the panel for the championship winning Munster and All-Ireland titles without playing any games.[citation needed]
He made a handful of appearances during the next few League campaigns.[citation needed]
He was made captain of the Kerry for the 1983–84 National Football League campaign. He played in all bar one of Kerry's finishing as top scoring with 4-14 from nine games.[11] Despite failing to score in the final Kerry took the title with O'Donoghue as captain.[12]
He made his first and only championship appearance in the Munster semi-final win over Tipperary.[13]
His son James played with Kerry at all levels from Minor and Senior level. He was an All-Ireland winning in 2014, as well as a two time All-Star and the 2014 Footballer of the Year.
