Francis Donoghue was born and raised in the
Irish Catholic community in
Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from
St. Ignatius College Prep and went on to earn his law degree from
Kent College in 1896. In 1900, he was elected to his first term in the
Illinois House of Representatives, serving in the
42nd Illinois General Assembly. Following a 1901 redistricting, he was elected to his second term from another district in 1902, and was elected to a third term in 1906. After leaving the House of Representatives, Donoghue became a business partner to
Nixey Callahan in the ownership of the Logan Squares baseball club in the
Chicago City League. The partnership lasted about five years. and shortly thereafter he was hired as an
assistant state's attorney in the office of the
Cook County State's Attorney, where he remained until his election as a Chicago municipal judge, in 1938. He served 12 years as municipal judge, retiring in 1950. He died two years later, on January 8, 1952, after a brief illness. ==Personal life and family==