Brien O'Rourke (Obituary)

The Side is sad to report the loss of our friend Brien O'Rourke.  Brien began his Morris career with The Side in 1973 when, whilst enjoying a pint in the Kings Arms, he was 'press ganged' by Joe Marns.  As well as performing in the Morris, Brien was also a keen advocate of Mumming and participated in the revival of this local Christmas tradition. He was a founder member of the Royal Alfred's Morris but left The Side in 1981 to dance with the Traditional Bampton Morris Men.  Brien would often turn up to watch our Morris performances in Faringdon and occasionally made appearances at practice nights to demonstrate some of the finer points of the Bampton Tradition.  He would also faithfully appear on Boxing Day to watch the Wantage Mummers.  He will be sadly missed.