Donohue was born about 1873, and lived with a wife and two children at 132 Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He was a friend of the local Democratic boss Patrick H. McCarren.
In November 1905, Donohue ran on the Municipal Ownership League ticket for the New York State Assembly, but was defeated.[1] In November 1906, he ran again, this time on the Democratic ticket, and was elected. He was a member of the New York State Assembly (Kings Co., 14th D.) in 1907.[2]
One month into his term, on January 31, 1907, he killed himself by a self-inflicted gunshot to the head in Edward Lingers's saloon at 419 Oakland Street in Brooklyn.[3][4][5]
