Arts Week with Judy Murphy

Declan O’Rourke has become far more selective about going on the road since his second son, now aged six, was born. The singer-songwriter and more recently, novelist, loves being a stay-at-home dad, something which allows him to continue his writing. Currently, he’s working towards a new album, due out later in the year.

But right now, he’s revisiting the past, with a special release of his debut album, Since Kyabram, to mark its 20th anniversary.

The reissue, on vinyl and CD, includes original recording and a second disc of new, bonus material, And there will be anniversary concerts in Cork, Dublin and Belfast later in the year.

Before that, and closer to home, the Kinvara resident will be playing Leisureland next Wednesday, June 5, as part of the Galway Folk Festival.

“I’m sentimental,” he says about Since Kyabram and the period around it. “I hold on to stuff and I had boxes of papers and artefacts I hadn’t gone into. I started looking at those and was able to build six months of my life and what I was doing every single day.”

He’s not a hoarder, he adds, but likes keeping things that mark significant moments. And the launch of Since Kyabram certainly was significant.

Containing songs including Galileo, Sarah, No Place to Hide, We Didn’t Mean To Go To Sea and Marrying The Sea, it entered the charts at Number Five back in 2004 and went on to achieve gold, platinum and double-platinum status in subsequent years

The artefacts Declan had kept from 2004, when he was living in his native Dublin, included tapes of the recording sessions – and when he started listening to them, he was transported back in time.

Pictured: Declan O’Rourke: The Kinvara singer-songwriter will be playing new and older material at his Galway Folk Festival concert next Wednesday, June 5. PHOTO: CIARAN BAGNALL.