Patrick O'Rourke (1 January 1934 17 January 2011) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

professional footballer who played as an

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

in the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

, most notably for

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...

. O'Rourke was brought up in the

Inchicore Inchicore () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. Located approximately west of the city centre, Inchicore was originally a small village separate from Dublin. The village developed around Richmond Barracks (built 1810) and Inchicore railway works (b ...

neighbourhood of

west Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...

and played youth football for local side Bulfin United. In 1953 he signed for League of Ireland outfit

, also located in the Inchicore area. With the Saints, O'Rourke would win two league championships and two FAI Cups. The 1955-56 League season would see O'Rourke and strike partner

Shay Gibbons Shay may refer to: People Shay is an Irish Gaelic name, a variant of the name Shea. It is derived from Seamus, which is anglicized from Ó Séaghdha. Shay is also a Hebrew unisex name, meaning gift, deriving as a variation of Shai. Mononym * Shay ...

net a combined haul of 38 goals for the Saints. In 1958, he won two caps for the Ireland B team, one at home against South Africa B and the other away to

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. On 12 September 1961, O'Rourke was Pats only goalscorer in a 4-1 loss away to

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

in the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

. In January 2011 St Patrick's Athletic announced the death of O'Rourke.

Honours

St Patrick's Athletic *

(2): 1954-55, 1955-56 *

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

(2): 1958-59, 1960-61 Individual *

Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ORourke, Patrick 1934 births 2011 deaths Association football forwards Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland association footballers Association footballers from County Dublin St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Limerick F.C. players