Publications

Books

Newspaper Articles & Blog Posts

  • Maeve O’Rourke and others, ‘Gazan students’ visas must be granted before it is too late’ Irish Examiner (6 October 2026)
  • Maeve O’Rourke and others, ‘If you want to object to building over Bessborough, you have one week’ Irish Examiner (10 April 2026)
  • Maeve O’Rourke, ‘Buying into human rights abuse? The Irish Government’s plan to import US fracked gas’ ichrgalway.org (23 March 2026)
  • Maeve O’Rourke, ‘A Right to Care and the Care Referendum on 8 March’ medium.com (1 March 2024)
  • Pearce Clancy, Maeve O’Rourke, Aoife O’Donoghue and John Reynolds, ‘Central Bank of Ireland mustn’t renew Israeli Bond sales’ Irish Examiner (1 September 2025)
  • Katherine O’Donnell, Maeve O’Rourke and Claire McGettrick, ‘Justice for Magdalenes group will be voting no in the care referendum. Here’s why’ Irish Examiner (4 March 2024)
  • Maeve O’Rourke, ‘Ireland could and should join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel’ The Irish Times (10 January 2024)
  • Maeve O’Rourke, ‘Last night at The Hist: “This House Would Make the Catholic Church Pay Reparations”’ medium.com (2 March 2023)
  • Maeve O’Rourke and Claire McGettrick, ‘Mother and baby homes inquiry’s lack of transparency was damaging’ The Irish Times (25 January 2021)
  • Maeve O’Rourke, ‘Government has to follow through on Mother and Baby Homes pledges’ Business Post (31 October 2020)
  • Maeve O’Rourke, ‘Here’s a full analysis of the problems with the Government’s Mother and Baby Homes Bill’ thejournal.ie (21 October 2020)
  • Maeve O’Rourke, ‘Redress for “historical” child abuse in care: what can Scotland learn from Ireland?’ UK Human Rights Blog (21 October 2020)
  • Maeve O’Rourke, ‘Not too late for State to break the secrecy around Mother and Baby Homes’ Irish Examiner (17 October 2020)
  • Maeve O’Rourke, ‘State must allow institutionalised people access to personal files’ The Irish Times (8 January 2019)
  • Maeve O’Rourke, ’10 ways institutional abuse details are still being kept secret’ RTE Brainstorm (2019)

Media Interviews

Journal Articles & Book Chapters

  • O’Rourke M, ‘The Manipulation of “Vulnerability”’: State Responses to So-called “Historical” Abuses in Ireland’ (2021) 43(3) Human Rights Quarterly 435
  • Sarah Carol, Maeve O’Rourke and Patrick Bresnihan, ‘Support of Scholars and Students at Risk in Ireland’ in Pilar Luz Rodrigues and Su-ming Khoo (eds) Sociological Observer: Issue 6 (Sociological Association of Ireland 2026) 85-93
  • Kennedy R, O’Rourke M & Roddy-Mullineaux C, ‘When is a Plan Not a Plan? The Supreme Court Decision in “Climate Case Ireland”’ in D’Alessandro E & Castagno D (eds), Reports & Essays on Climate Change Litigation (Università degli Studi di Torino 2024)
  • Coen M, O’Donnell K & O’Rourke M, ‘Introduction’ in Coen M, O’Donnell K & O’Rourke M (eds), A Dublin Magdalene Laundry: Church-State Power in Ireland (Bloomsbury 2023)
  • O’Donnell K, O’Rourke M & Smith JM, ‘Editors’ Introduction’ in O’Donnell K, O’Rourke M & Smith JM (eds), REDRESS: Ireland and Transitional Justice (UCD Press 2022)
  • O’Rourke M, ‘State Responses to Historical Abuses in Ireland: “Vulnerability” and the Denial of Rights’ in O’Donnell K, O’Rourke M & Smith JM (eds), REDRESS: Ireland and Transitional Justice (UCD Press 2022)
  • O’Rourke M, ‘Ireland’s “Historical” Abuse Inquiries and the Secrecy of Records and Archives’ in Black L, Brangan L & Healy D (eds), Perspectives from the Periphery: Histories of Punishment in Ireland (Emerald Publishing 2022)
  • O’Rourke M, O’Donnell K & O’Mahoney J, ‘Institutional abuse in Ireland: Lessons from Magdalene survivors and legal professionals’ in Orla Lynch, Janes Windle & Yasmin Ahmed (eds), “Nothing about us without us”: Giving voice to diversity in Criminological Research (Bristol University Press 2021)
  • O’Donnell K, O’Rourke M & Smith JM, (2020) 55 (1-2) Éire-Ireland: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Irish Studies, Special Double Issue: Towards Transitional Justice in Ireland? Addressing Legacies of Harm
  • Kennedy R, O’Rourke M & Roddy-Mullineaux C, ‘When Is A Plan Not A Plan? The Supreme Court Decision in “Climate Case Ireland”’ (2020) 27(2) Irish Planning and Environmental Law Journal 60
  • O’Donnell K, O’Rourke M & Smith JM, ‘Editors’ Introduction’ (2020) 55(1-2) Éire-Ireland: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Irish Studies, Special Double Issue: Towards Transitional Justice in Ireland? Addressing Legacies of Harm 9
  • O’Rourke M, ‘Prolonged Impunity as a ‘Continuing Situation’ of Torture or Ill-treatment? Applying a Dignity Lens to So-Called “Historical” Cases’ (2019) 66(1) Netherlands International Law Review 101
  • O’Rourke M, ‘Book Review: Lyndsey Black and Peter Dunne (eds), Law and Gender in Modern Ireland: Critique and Reform (Hart/Bloomsbury 2019)’ (2019) 27 Feminist Legal Studies 345
  • O’Rourke M, ‘Concluding Observations of the UN Committee against Torture on Ireland, 2011’ in Auchmuty R & Rackley E, Women’s Legal Landmarks (Hart 2018)

Policy Submissions

  • O’Mahony C, O’Rourke M and Mulgrew R, Deprivation of Liberty in Ireland: Law, Practice, and Gaps in the Inspection of Places of Detention Framework: A Report for the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (University of Galway, January 2026) (unpublished) (56 pages excl. appendices)
  • O’Rourke M, Submission to the Intergovernmental Working Group for the elaboration of a legally binding instrument on the promotion and protection of the human rights of older persons (Irish Centre for Human Rights, 22 April 2026)
  • Bresnihan P, Carol S, O’Rourke M, Riordan S & Wycherley N, Ireland’s role in protecting scholars in and from conflict zones: Report from the Roundtable ‘Science in Conflict Zones’ held on 3 March 2025 at the Royal Irish Academy (Royal Irish Academy / Young Academy Ireland 3 October 2025)
  • O’Rourke M, Submission to the Fourteenth Session of the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWGA): Substantive inputs in the form of normative content for the development of a possible international standard on the protection of the rights of older persons to “Social inclusion” and “Right to health and access to health services” (Irish Centre for Human Rights 2024)
  • O’Rourke M, The University’s historical anatomy practices and the findings of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation: Preliminary legal analysis and recommendations to the President of University of Galway (Irish Centre for Human Rights Working Paper Series, University of Galway 2023)
  • Coen M, O’Donnell K & O’Rourke M, Briefing for An Tánaiste, Micheál Martin, on the need for emergency legislation to preserve historic institutional material (March 2023)
  • Blaney C, Campbell H, Coen M, Janssens J, McGettrick C, Murray D, O’Donnell K, O’Donnell J, O’Rourke M, Smith JM & Steed M, Justice for Magdalenes Research & Open Heart City Collective, Submission to Public Consultation on the National Centre for Research and Remembrance (September 2023)
  • Mahon D, O’Rourke M and Scraton P, Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses in Northern Ireland: Truth, Acknowledgement and Accountability: A Report for the Northern Ireland Executive (Independent Truth Recovery Design Panel October 2021)
  • O’Rourke M, A Human Rights Framework: Background Research for the Truth Recovery Design Process (Independent Truth Recovery Design Panel September 2021)
  • O’Rourke M, O’Nolan L and McGettrick C, Joint Submission to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice regarding the General Data Protection Regulation (March 2021)
  • Buckley SA, Conway V, Enright M, Fox F, Gallen J, Hayes E, Harney M, Mackin D, McGettrick C, Ó Fátharta C, O’Rourke M and Scraton P, Joint Oireachtas Submission for Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of a Certain Institutional Burials (Authorised Interventions) Bill (February 2021)
  • McGettrick C and O’Rourke M, Clann Project Submission on the Development of an Ex Gratia ‘Restorative Recognition Scheme’ (February 2021)
  • O’Rourke M, Submission to the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Skills Committee on the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Bill (October 2020)
  • Roddy-Mullineaux C, Fitzpatrick S, Carney C, O’Rourke M, McElligott J, White T, Mitchell E and Liston G, Submission to the Joint Committee on Climate Action for pre-legislative scrutiny of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2020: A Legislative Ban on Importing Fracked Gas (November 2020)
  • O’Rourke M & McGettrick C, Submission to the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: The findings and recommendations of Clann: Ireland’s Unmarried Mothers and their Children: Gathering the Data (2020)
  • Aglae S, Barry K, Burke L, Crivits S, Dalton K, Mullally S, O’Rourke M, Shilova A, Villena Rodo J, Wadhwa E, Wrenn S, Submission to the United Nations Committee Against Torture for the list of issues prior to reporting in respect of Ireland for the 69th Session (April May 2020) (Irish Centre for Human Rights 2020)
  • O’Rourke M, Ireland’s experience of memorialisation in the context of serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law: A submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-repetition (Irish Centre for Human Rights/ Justice for Magdalenes Research 2020)
  • O’Rourke M, Enright M & Ring S, Submission to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Skills on the provisions of the Retention of Records Bill 2019 (Justice for Magdalenes Research 2019)
  • O’Rourke M, Response to Consultation on the Health Information and Quality Authority’s Draft Guidance on a human rights-based approach to care and support in health and social care settings (2019)
  • Logue F, O’Mahony C, O’Rourke M et al, Opinion on the application of the Irish Constitution and EU General Data Protection Regulation to the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2016 and the Government’s ‘Options for Consideration’ (2019)
  • Ní Fhlatharta M and O’Rourke M, Response to Response to questionnaire from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture RE: domestic violence and the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment (Centre for Disability Law and Policy & Irish Centre for Human Rights, University of Galway, 20 May 2019)
  • O’Rourke M, McGettrick C, Baker R, Hill R and others, Clann: Principal Submissions to the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes (Adoption Rights Alliance, Justice for Magdalenes Research, Hogan Lovells 2018)
  • O’Rourke M, Freedom of Artistic Expression and the Referendum on the 8th Amendment (Irish Council for Civil Liberties 2018)
  • O’Rourke M, Rights-based policing: how do we get there? (Irish Council for Civil Liberties 2018)