02/28/2026
Singing Their Heritage: Meet The O'Rourke Family and Band. Check out Chadds Ford Neighbors March's story! “There were always people around,” Jack O’Rourke says about growing up in a family with seven children. “I’ve been lucky to have many long-term friendships, but siblings are permanent. I’ve been lucky to have brothers so close in age to me.”
Jack (22) is the third of the seven children— all boys— of Jerry and Ann O’Rourke, of Chadds Ford. Above Jack in the pecking order are Jerry (27) and Liam (23), and below him are Brendan (21), Patrick (20), Declan (18), and Aidan (14). Declan and Aidan are currently students at Unionville High School, and all seven O’Rourke boys went through the district. In fact, when the oldest, Jerry, was a senior, his youngest brother, Aidan, was in kindergarten. That was the only year that all seven children were in the same school district together. Ann has a photo that Aidan’s kindergarten teacher took of Jerry and Aidan when the seniors came back to their elementary school to visit during the Senior Stroll. Understandably, it is one of her favorites.
Around the time that Jack was in high school, he took up the guitar, and dad Jerry suggested they start to play Irish folk music professionally. Jerry had become interested in Irish folk music as a young man and had even played in a band with a friend. Life happened, and although he had let go of playing professionally himself, he played throughout the years for fun, including at the family’s church.
So, in 2018, Jerry and Jack formed a duo, with Jack on guitar and Jerry on bass and vocals. For their first gig, they played the after-party of a friend's wedding. The sound wasn’t exactly as full as they would have liked it, and they felt more instruments were needed. So, Jerry’s brother joined on the banjo, and Ann on the fiddle.
Jerry explains that the set up of guitar, banjo, and bass was pioneered by the famous Irish folk group The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem in the 1950s and 60s. The Dubliners (another famous Irish folk group) had a similar lineup that included a fiddle. The O’Rourkes combined those instruments to achieve a classic Irish sound, and they have had great success with it around the area.
Children get older, though, and as Jack aged out by going to college, he was replaced by Brendan. Eventually almost all seven children will have played in The O’Rourkes at some point. They have since also added Ann’s nieces, Megan, Katie and Annie (students at Archmere Academy in Delaware), to the mix, who play guitar and banjo, as well as add in vocals. As a result, the band is still a “family” act, which many people find appealing.
