Father Gough is a native of Lutherville, Maryland and entered the seminary after graduating from Calvert Hall College High School. As a college seminarian, he studied philosophy at Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island before beginning major seminary at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. While in Rome, he completed both a baccalaureate and a licentiate degree in sacred theology at the Pontifcal University of Saint Thomas Aquinas ("Angelicum"). After ordination in 2020, he returned to Rome to finish his studies before being appointed Associate Pastor of the Cathedral in 2021.
Father Gough spends his time away from the parish riding bikes on roads and over mountains: the most conducive settings for homily-writing, next to the chapel. The fruits of his contemplation, including his Sunday homilies, are posted weekly on Ecclesia Christi Baltimore.