"Compassion, romance, a sense of mortality and a sense of history run through the songs of Declan O'Rourke, a songwriter from Dublin who is performing through Sunday at the Irish Arts Centre.“You’ve got to be brave and believe,” one song advised, without cynicism or too much sentimentality.” -  　　- Jon Pareles of The New York Times. April 2013 　　 　　Declan O’Rourke is a critically acclaimed singer and songwriting from Dublin, Ireland. Jon Pareles of The New York Times said there was virtuosity in his guitar playing, with ‘intricately contrapuntal picking and meticulous dynamics,’ and that his calling was as a balladeer. 　　 　　Declan plays to sold-out crowds in his native Ireland and regularly tours in Europe, America and Australia. A consummate and versatile performer, his songs mesmerize, whether performed solo with just an acoustic guitar, with a band, a string quartet, or full concert orchestra. 　　 　　In 2013, O’Rourke released his third studio album Mag Pai Zai, which made it into The Irish Times’ “101 Irish Albums to Hear Before You Die.” Mag Pai Zai was O’Rourke’s first record to be released Stateside. Specially re-packaged and mastered for US audiences, the US edition garnered critical acclaim from such national media outlets as the The Wall Street Journal, American Songwriter, NPR’s World Café, USA Today and Mountain Stage. 　　Last year, O’Rourke decided to try something completely new by releasing a new digital-only track every month absolutely free through his mailing list and social media platforms. He called the project Howlin’ Lowly Moons, and through it he has released some of the best recordings of his career, directly to fans and absolutely free. 　　This material made up the bulk of his fourth studio album Gold Bars in the Sun, released in December 2015. 　　 　　“He writes the sort of classic songs that people don’t write anymore, that sound like they’ve been around forever […] Listen to Galileo, which is possibly the greatest song written in the last 30 years.”  - Paul Weller of ‘The Jam’, Mojo Magazine (Apr 2012)