Chronicles Of The Great Irish Famine (Signed CD)

Circa 2000, while "sitting upstairs on a bus", Declan O'Rourke opened a book he had just bought, his interest recently sparked by learning that his grandfather had been born in the workhouse some eighty-five years prior. On the opening page of that book, all in a cataclysmic moment, the young artist read the harrowing account of the ua Buacalla family (that would inspire him to write the song 'Poor Boy's Shoes'), and at once opened and walked through the doorway to another world, and the deeply controversial part of Irish history rarely explored by his predecessors; the Great Irish Famine.

Almost seventeen years later, after an exhaustive amount of research and fascination with the subject, O'Rourke completed a major artistic milestone, and a labour of love, in his 'Chronicles Of The Great Irish Famine' released in October 2017. A decade and a half in the making, the epic song cycle combined the best of traditional Irish musicians and the heart of modern songwriting entwined, to present a series of extraordinary, but true tales from the most dynamic period in Ireland's tortured history.

The suitably haunting Sleeve features an incredibly executed photograph, a work of art in itself, in which members of the Chronicles band re-enact a scene from one of the tales contained within, in a highly evocative Caravaggio-esque Chiaroscuro style image. Within the rich 6 panel digipak the sleeve the collector will find a collage of rich images including a black and white shot featuring key members of the band at work in a period alehouse. The digipak sleeve also houses and protects a beautifully printed inner booklet hosting lyrics, catalogue information, and an array of 8 beautifully captured mugshots of the band (in nineteenth century dress from the cover shoot), and finally the disc itself under a richly coloured disc label photo of O’Rourke in flight and tracklisting.

A very rich, collectable item. This will be highly sought when it goes out of print. NB - less than 200 out of 10,000 copies remain.

Tracklisting

1. Clogman's Glen
2. Along The Western Seaboard
3. Buried In The Deep
4. Poor Boy's Shoes
5. Indian Meal
6. Mary Kate
7. Laissez Faire
8. Rattle My Bones
9. The Villain Curry Shaw
10. Johnny And The Lantern
11. The Connaught Orphan
12. The Great Saint Lawrence River
13. Go Domhain i do Chuimhne

- Winner of Best Original Folk Track (Along The Western Seaboard) - 2018 RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards. - Nominated for Best Male Singer, 2018 RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards. - Nominated for Best Original Song (The Great St. Lawrence River) - BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, 2018 - Voted Irish album of the year 2017 - Irish Mail on Sunday “Chronicles... will surely come to be seen as his defining album.”
- Nominated for Album of the year, Critics choice, 2017 – fRoots magazine U.K.
- Voted No.1 Folk / Trad release of 2017 – London Celtic Punks webzine.… “An amazing album.”
- Voted Album of the year 2017 by Marty Whelan on RTE Lyric fm… “Truly special.”
- ★★★★ – Songlines Magazine UK… “Delivered with consummate grace. Beautifully played. Exquisitely detailed.”
- Reviewed over 13 consecutive days in ‘The Woodstock Whisperer’ online publication, NY… “Remarkable.”
- Voted one of Irish Beats ‘Best Irish Albums of 2017’… “A masterpiece.”
- “A work of art from start to finish. This will be around forever.” Lynette Fay – Folk Club, BBC Radio Ulster.
- “Epic” – Cara (Aer Lingus inflight magazine).