Linguist Patrick O’Rourke awarded Waterfowl Fund scholarship
Academic work
Patrick O’Rourke is a Finnougrist who focuses primarily on the Livonian language. In his bachelor’s thesis, he compared the North Estonian Häädemeeste dialect with Salaca Livonian. In his master’s thesis, he applied a sociolinguistic network model to Courland Livonian to see if there are any connections between the strength of social networks and the influence of Latvian. In his doctoral thesis, which he will defend on 30 October 2025, Patrick O’Rourke examines the dialectal development of the southwestern Finnic languages and attempts to clarify whether there are traces of a possible intermediary dialect between Livonian and North Estonian.
Patrick has written eight articles during his academic career. Five of them form the basis of his doctoral thesis, one is based on his master’s thesis, and two concern the derivation of Proto-Uralic. In his articles on Proto-Uralic, he examines how southern Finnic derivatives have developed from Proto-Uralic.
Finno-Ugric organisations
In addition to his academic work, Patrick O’Rourke has been actively involved in Finno-Ugric student organisations. He is a founding member of the Fenno-Ugria Noored association. In November 2014, he organised a trip to Komi with Fenno-Ugria Noored, where the FUROR youth forum took place. After the visit, the young Komi in Syktyvkar reportedly began to speak the Komi language more confidently in the city.
While studying for his master’s degree at the University of York in England, Patrick O’Rourke participated in the activities of the York Estonian Society, including organising the Estonian Independence Day celebration on 24 February 2016. He participated in the reorganisation of Fenno-Ugria Noored into Hõimulõimed, a prominent Finno-Ugric youth organisation.
Patrick O’Rourke is also a founding member of the Finnish NGO Taivaannaula. Taivaannaula was founded in 2007 with the aim of preserving and developing the traditional Finnish culture and spiritual heritage. Since 2013, he has been responsible in the organisation for the affairs of kindred peoples. During his twelve years of activity, Patrick has translated dozens of news articles about the Estonian and Mari ancestral religions for Taivaannaula, always highlighting the Finno-Ugric aspect.
Patrick is also a founding member and chairman of the Finnish Anbur Society. The society was founded in February 2020 with the aim of introducing the Old Permic alphabet, or Anbur, into all Finno-Ugric languages. The importance of Anbur for the Finno-Ugric peoples lies in the development of a new common symbol and the establishment of a mental space. Anbur has currently been adapted to the Finnish language, and work is underway to develop Anbur for other Finnic languages. There are plans to publish a book about Anbur for the Estonian public.
Project Manager of Fenno-Ugria
In addition to his academic and civil society activities, Patrick O’Rourke has been a project manager at Fenno-Ugria since March 2023. His main responsibilities include maintaining the English-language website of Fenno-Ugria and translating English-language news items. Patrick also oversaw the transfer of the Fenno-Ugria archives to the Estonian National Archive in 2024.
One successful project has been the organisation of the English-language version of Lennart Meri’s film-themed exhibition “Waterfowl People” at the University of York. After York, Patrick plans to continue taking the exhibition to other universities in England. This project is an important way to contribute to raising awareness of the Finno-Ugric world in England and more broadly in the West.
Patrick O’Rourke is a young scholar who is deeply involved in the Finno-Ugric world and is well deserving of the Waterfowl People Foundation scholarship. Fenno-Ugria Foundation congratulates our esteemed colleague!
Lennart Meri Waterfowl Fund
The Lennart Meri Waterfowl Fund was established by Fenno-Ugria board member Tõnu Seilenthal on 20 June 2007. The fund’s activities are managed by a five-member council. Previous recipients of the scholarship include Bogáta Timár (2024), Raisiya Sungurova (2020), and others.
“Veelinnurahvas” (“The Waterfowl People”) is Lennart Meri’s first documentary film, completed in 1970, which deals with the everyday life, ethnography, folklore, and traditional culture of the Finno-Ugric and Samoyedic peoples.
