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Legacy

From 1997 to 2003, O'Donoghue served as Chief Herald of Ireland's Genealogical Office, serving to provide Irish citizens, descendants and organisations with Grants of Arms. In this role, O'Donoghue endeavoured to re-establish the credibility and transparency of its services, particularly the custom of granting honorary titles to those descended from the historic royalty of Ireland. Suspicions arose regarding the titles of multiple chieftains granted their titles in the 1990s, which led to doubts regarding all titles granted during this period. O'Donoghue conducted his own investigation from 2001 to 2003 and found evidence of malpractice regarding past verification of these titles. Although there was no dispute over titles given to descendants during the 1940s when the Genealogical Office was still in its early stages, those granted in the 1990s were found to have been improperly investigated. Tracing was made more difficult by the fact that instead of the traditional practice of agnatic primogeniture, or bestowing the title upon firstborn sons in the family, a practice was being used in that families were choosing to elect members for the role of chieftain. As a result of recommendations from O'Donoghue, along with backing from the National Library's Council of Trustees, the Genealogical Office's system of providing descendants with honorary titles and official recognition of status came to an end, with O'Donoghue emphasising insurmountable difficulties in validating claims of supposed lineage.

O'Donoghue advocated for increased public cognisance and interest in genealogical practices and expressed the importance of being aware of one's ancestral background. He reinforced this through his support of an online version of Griffith's Valuation of Ireland, a genealogical survey which detailed information on 1.4 million Irish people during the country's Great Famine. The online service was made free of charge to patrons of the National Library, and would serve as a valuable tool for genealogy practices amongst the public. O'Donoghue also encouraged Irish people at home and abroad to do their part in preserving items of historical interest for posterity. He asked people to look through their homes for any items of possible significance that they may have otherwise overlooked, in order to add to the National Library's existing collection of materials and contribute to its "information on Ireland's social, economic, political, religious and literary history".