{"id":24317,"date":"2021-12-03T15:00:05","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T15:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/?p=24317"},"modified":"2021-12-06T08:27:18","modified_gmt":"2021-12-06T08:27:18","slug":"a-triumph-of-the-spirit-in-conversation-with-declan-orourke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/index.php\/a-triumph-of-the-spirit-in-conversation-with-declan-orourke\/","title":{"rendered":"A Triumph of the Spirit: In Conversation with Declan O\u2019Rourke"},"content":{"rendered":"

Singer-songwriter Declan O\u2019Rourke has turned from writing lyrics to prose for his latest creative venture.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Famed for his distinctive voice and musical abilities, his literary debut <\/span>The Pawnbrokers Reward<\/span><\/i> illuminates the darkest chapter of Irish history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Having previously explored the famine in his critically acclaimed song cycle <\/span>Chronicles of the Great Irish Famine<\/span><\/i>, the novel examines the events of that time through the town of Macroom.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was the recent lockdowns that provided <\/span>O\u2019Rourke<\/span> with enough time to complete the book following fifteen years of creating music that has won over famous fans including Chris Rea, Ronnie Wood and Paul Brady.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI just didn\u2019t want it to end, it was really, really a very gratifying experience.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

O\u2019Rourke\u2019s interest in the famine was ignited twenty years ago upon learning his grandfather was born in a workhouse in 1916.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unaware of the historical context, he began to extensively research their origins with help from <\/span>The Workhouses of Ireland<\/span><\/i> by Joseph O\u2019Connor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was one account in particular that formed the basis of the novel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0The book documented P\u00e1draig and C\u00e1it ua Buachalla who had lost both their children in the workhouse. After deciding to leave and return home, the two were found perished on the floor of their cottage six miles outside of Macroom.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Their bodies were discovered with C\u00e1it\u2019s feet held to her husband\u2019s chest, after spending his last waking moments trying to warm her.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s heart-breaking but beautiful, and in a way I think it is a triumph of the spirit, even over the darkest of times,\u201d reflected O\u2019Rourke.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that he could still, with his last warmth and his last gesture, do something so beautiful like that, it\u2019s ultimately a beautiful story in spite of the tragedy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

All of the characters in the novel are based on real life figures based in the area of Macroom during the period.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One prominent character is pawnbroker Cornelius Creed, who also worked as a correspondent for the local paper.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His matter-of-fact functional reports of meetings of the Board of Guardians slowly morphed into passionate opinion pieces revealing more about his character and the events unfolding around him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Acting as the juncture between the working and upper classes, he provided a unique insight into the perspective of a middle class Catholic Ireland at that time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was much more privileged than the poor of course, but there was a cap on where they could go and he was trying to make a difference.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut really any power that he had was very limited. He was a victim of the system as much as anyone else.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A challenge of historical fiction is to strike the balance between accuracy and using creative license, a task the new novelist remedied through extensive research.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alongside retelling the real life events from the time, the book maintains a strong emotional element granted by placing himself in the character\u2019s perspective.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI did need to fill in a gap or join some parts or imagine how one of the characters felt, that\u2019s when your own experience of feelings comes into it. <\/span>You are almost acting and being them and writing down what you feel through their eyes and that\u2019s the element when you are inventing.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Pawnbroker\u2019s Reward<\/span><\/i> marks O\u2019Rourke\u2019s entry into a new creative discipline. Before beginning his upcoming Irish tour next year, he is now attending literary festivals and engaging with the vibrant Irish writers community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alongside his successful music endeavours, he now has plans to continue writing more prose after enjoying the experience of forming his\u00a0 debut.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt helped me to erase some borders I put on myself, I feel liberated and I am very excited for the possibilities here on in.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The famine remains ingrained in cultural memory and actively taught through the national school curriculum.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This debut joins a host of other acclaimed literary works inspired by the historical event such as <\/span>Star of the Sea<\/span><\/i> by Joseph O\u2019Connor and the classic children\u2019s series <\/span>Under the Hawthorn Tree<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 by Marita Conlon McKenna.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

O\u2019Rourke maintains the tragedy provides a relevant point in our past where we can learn from and apply to our present.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in a very interesting time in the world at the moment that has echoes of that time. I think it\u2019s not hard to see that and to see how easy things can fall apart. But really, what I hope people can learn from this story is what I did, and that is empathy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very important for us to keep these stories alive because they teach us empathy and they equip us to deal with similar situations in our own life and our own time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Pawnbrokers Reward published by Gill is out now. Declan O\u2019Rourke will play Limerick\u2019s Lime Tree Theatre on March 18<\/span><\/i>th<\/span><\/i> 2022.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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Singer-songwriter Declan O\u2019Rourke has turned from writing lyrics to prose for his latest creative venture.\u00a0 Famed for his distinctive voice and musical abilities, his literary debut The Pawnbrokers Reward illuminates the darkest chapter of Irish history.\u00a0 Having previously explored the famine in his critically acclaimed song cycle Chronicles of the Great Irish Famine, the novel […]<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":11553,"featured_media":24320,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101838,101965],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture-fuinneamh","category-features"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":173,"today_views":0},"views":1757,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Declan_ORourke_27921598053.jpeg","wps_subtitle":"Fuinneamh editor Aisl\u00ednn Kelly caught up with the acclaimed singer-songwriter to speak about his literary debut, the creative process and the legacy of the Irish Famine. ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11553"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24317"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24339,"href":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24317\/revisions\/24339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}