The Irish Ambassador to Korea, Michelle Winthrop, received on behalf of the late Columban Missionary Fr Kevin O’Rourke, the Distinguished Alumni Award from Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea.
Fr Kevin O’Rourke is the first foreign national to receive this honour. It was awarded in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the translation of Korean literature.
Fr Kevin was the first foreigner to earn a PhD in Korean Literature. He dedicated himself to widening the knowledge of Korean literature internationally through his English translations. He translated more than 2,000 Korean literary works into English.
Fr Kevin died on 23rd October 2020 aged 81.
Born in Cavan in 1939, he was ordained priest in 1963. He went to South Korea in 1964 and served as assistant pastor at Soyangro Church in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province.
Fr Kevin later taught at Kyung Hee University from 1977 to 2005. He received a doctorate in Korean literature from Yonsei University in 1982.
During his lifetime, Fr Kevin translated famous Korean poems, novels, and other literary works, including Choi In-hun’s novel ‘The Square,’ Lee Mun-yol’s ‘Our Twisted Hero,’ So Chong-ju’s poetry collection, and Yi Sang’s ‘Wings: Volume 091.’
Columban Fr Donal O’Keeffe attended the award ceremony.
He also translated Korean traditional literary works such as song lyrics and poems from the Goryeo and Joseon eras.
In 1989 he won the Korean National Literature Prize for his translations of Korean poetry and was granted an honorary South Korean citizenship in 2007.
He also won the presidential citation for services to the Korean language and literature from the then President Lee Myung-bak in 2009.
Fr Kevin was declared winner of the Daesan Literary Award in translation in 2017 and an achievement award from Lotte’s first publication culture award.
The Irish Embassy named a library at the embassy after him in 2010.
He is part of a tiny but renowned Irish group of Asian scholars, including Dublin-raised Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) and Co Mayo-born Eileen Kato.