Being one of the name myself I take special pride in presenting the profiles of the people presented in these pages. In these days of great commonality where everything seems to be being reduced to showing how similar we are, it is worth remembering the distinctiveness of ourselves, embodied in no small part in our surname.

The O'Rourke surname is one of the oldest in the world and carries with it an important legacy in Irish and world history. From battles with the Vikings, the Normans and the English, on to Russia and over to the Civil War in the US- O'Rourkes have been witness to and participated in some of the most important episodes in history.

But we haven't just been warriors, O'Rourkes have excelled and been recognized in many fields from the arts to education and from religion to sports. Some have had quite remarkable careers, while others have led quiet, dignified lives of the everyman. In a very real sense the O'Rourkes are a great tribe, with many branches that have stretched around the world. You may even be "an O'Rourke" and not even know it as some of the branches actually changed their surnames to common sounding names like, Mac Loughlin, McNeil and Gore.

To carry the surname is the 21st Century is still unique, there are estimated to be only some 12,000 O'Rourke families in the world, about half living in the US. O'Rourkes, like the Irish, pop up everywhere, from Singapore to San Francisco and from Auckland to the Argentine, O'Rourkes have migrated and mingled.

The spelling may change, a U or and O may be dropped, but in the end we are all descent from that young prince, Ruarc, meaning "to rush, very fast, restless", who died in the late 9th Century. As the old gaelic war cry went; "Faragh, Buagh".......to victory!

Stephen Vincent O'Rourke

Singapore 2005

The ORHP