Bourke is a Dublin-born writer, oral historian and academic with an interest in the voice of women in folklore.
Educated in University College Dublin with an MA in Celtic Studies she travelled to Université de Bretagne Occidentale in 1974.
[1] Bourke completed her doctorate in women's religious poetry in Irish folklore, also from University College Dublin.
She was the first holder of Princess Grace Irish Library (Monaco) bursary for academic writers, Autumn 2002.
[1] She is Professor of Irish-Language Studies and Head of modern Irish in UCD.