Declan O'Rourke to be honoured for his work on the Great Irish Famine in New York

Irish singer-songwriter Declan O'Rourke will be honoured at a dinner in New York this week with one of the International Center for Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma's Repairer Awards for his work on the Great Hunger.

The Repairer awards are granted to outstanding artists whose body of work exemplifies the values of the Center in advocating for victims of trauma and educating the public about the lingering effects of trauma across the generations.

"We are so pleased to share with you that for applying his abundant talents and empathic knowledge to convey the horrors of the Great Hunger for future generations of Ireland and the world,” the ICMGLT has announced Declan among the recipients of its inaugural Repairer Awards," a press release reads.

O'Rourke released the album Chronicles of The Great Irish Famine back in 2017 to widespread praise. Winner of a 2018 RTÉ Radio One Folk Award and inspired by O’Rourke’s own family history, Chronicles is an empathic portrait of the forgotten and a vivid musical evocation of Ireland through the incomprehensible hardship of the Great Famine.

15 years in the making, the epic LP combines the best of traditional Irish music and the heart of modern song-writing to present a series of extraordinary true tales from the most dynamic period in Irelands history.

Known as the Great Irish Famine, An Gorta Mór was by far the most impactful era in the recorded history of Ireland. The effect on the population was so devastating that seven generations and 170 years later, Irelands population is still far from where it was in the 1840s. The Famine marked the beginning of a boom in Irish immigration resulting in over 80 million across the world claiming Irish heritage today.

Inspired by John O’Connor’s book The Workhouses of Ireland, O’Rourke said at the time: “The songs in this project are an attempt to bring fresh air to an unhealed wound, and to remind the Irish people of what we have overcome.”

Alongside D.W. Gregory, author of the celebrated play Radium Girls, Declan will be honoured at a ceremony this Friday, October 21st.

The awards were announced by Dr. Yael Danieli, founder and executive director of the ICMGLT.

“In their relevance to today's events, the work of these artists shines a stark light on the meaning of inter-generational legacies of trauma at the core of the Center’s mission as they address the injustices and dishonesty that leads to abuse of the vulnerable, whether it be through exposure to radiation, or through hunger and oppression,” Danieli said.

The ICMGLT also thanked all who supported the ‘Nothing Kills Like Hunger’ petition presented by CONCERN WORLDWIDE at O'Rourke's concerts across Ireland earlier this year.

The musician is also in New York to take part in Concern’s handing over of 10,000 signatures (many of which were collected at those concerts), to the United Nations. This takes place at The Office of The Permanent Mission of Ireland, Thursday October 20th, at 5pm (Eastern Daylight Time).

The event will be live-streamed here.

Listen to Chronicles of The Great Irish Famine below.