Michael Peter Desmond O'Donoghue (b. 1971) is the current Bluemantle Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary

Bluemantle Pursuivant

Bluemantle Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary is a junior officer of arms of the College of Arms in London. The office is reputed to have been created by King Henry V to serve the Order of the Garter, but there is no documentary evidence of this. There is, however, mention of an officer styled...

 at the College of Arms

College of Arms

The College of Arms, or Heralds’ College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

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He was appointed to the office on 17 January 2005, on successful completion of a period of probation. After graduating from Cambridge University, O'Donoghue worked for several years as a genealogist

Genealogy

Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...

 and researcher, including time spent as research assistant to two Windsor Herald

Windsor Herald

Windsor Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. It has been suggested that the office was instituted specifically for the Order of the Garter in 1348, or that it predates the Order and was in use as early as 1338...

s—the late Theobald D Mathew

Theobald Mathew (officer of arms)

Theobald David Mathew was an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.Theobald Mathew was the son of solicitor Robert Mathew and Joan Young, and great-nephew of Sir Arthur Cochrane, Clarenceux King of Arms from 1928 to 1954...

 and William George Hunt

William Hunt (officer of arms)

William George Hunt, CStJ,TD, FCA is the current Windsor Herald of Arms in Ordinary at the College of Arms in London. Hunt worked for many years in the City of London as a chartered accountant. He was appointed as Portcullis Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary in 1992 and in 1999 he was appointed as...

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With Clive Cheesman

Clive Cheesman

Clive Edwin Alexander Cheesman is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London, and is currently Richmond Herald, having been appointed on 7 April 2010. Cheesman was formerly a curator in the Department of Coins and Medals in the British Museum. He was Rouge Dragon Pursuivant of Arms in...

, currently the Richmond Herald of Arms in Ordinary

Richmond Herald

Richmond Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms of the College of Arms in England. From 1421 to 1485 Richmond was a herald to John, Duke of Bedford, George, Duke of Clarence, and Henry, Earl of Richmond, all of whom held the Honour of Richmond...

, O'Donoghue is the current co-editor

Editing

Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...

 of The Coat of Arms, published by The Heraldry Society

The Heraldry Society

The Heraldry Society is one of the leading organizations in the world devoted to studying heraldry. In 1947, a twenty year old John Brooke-Little founded the Society of Heraldic Antiquaries. This title was changed to The Heraldry Society in 1950. It was incorporated in 1956 and is now a registered...

. The two officers of arms

Officer of arms

An officer of arms is a person appointed by a sovereign or state with authority to perform one or more of the following functions:*to control and initiate armorial matters*to arrange and participate in ceremonies of state...

 took over that position in 2005 from the late John Brooke-Little

John Brooke-Little

John Philip Rudolph Dominic Derek Aloysius Mary Brooke-Little, CVO, KStJ, FSA, FSG, FHS, FHG , FRHSC , FHSNZ, KM, GCGCO was an influential and popular British writer on heraldic subjects and a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London...

, former Clarenceux King of Arms

Clarenceux King of Arms

Clarenceux King of Arms is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Clarenceux is the senior of the two provincial kings of arms and his jurisdiction is that part of England south of the River Trent. The office almost certainly existed in 1420, and there is a fair degree of...

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