Reparations H!

By Mike Houlihan

April 12, 2024

I want reparations!

The Irish have been one of the most maligned races throughout history. Irish people have been persecuted, starved, and ostracized going all the way back to the genocide of the potato “famine” in 1847.

It can be directed against the island of Ireland or Irish immigrants and their descendants in the Irish Diaspora. This sentiment is also called hibernophobia, and today it continues unabated, whether it was employment signs in post WWII America that said NO IRISH NEED APPLY, or the more recent FBI investigations of “traditional Irish Catholics” undertaken by “supposed Catholic” Joe Biden’s Dept. of Justice.

So pay attention, they’re out to get us! I’ve dedicated my life’s work to commemorating the historic journey of Irish immigrants of the 20th and 21st century. That’s why I founded Hibernian Media over ten years ago. Our mission revolves around celebrating their extraordinary contributions to Irish American culture, spanning the realm of arts, business, and government. Our narrative is one of triumph over adversity.

Check out my website, hibernianmedia.org and if you are so inclined you can start those reparations right now by donating online! We’ve recently reached out to the goo-goo community on our Hibernian Radio show to embrace the DEI movement promoted by the far-left whackos. See, as much as it sounds crazy, it ain’t easy being white these days, especially in the non- profit world. There are already too many “victims” out there claiming discrimination and prejudice in trade for your tax-deductible dollar.

That’s why I tell everybody, “We’re not white, we’re Irish!” Of course, Irish culture is worthy of your donations, but it is worthy enough? Fear not folks, we have created maybe the greatest story of sacrifice in the face of modern oppression and racism ever known to man. And like any great story, it doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. Don’t even start with that crap! We have found the answer to rampant hibernophobia that has plagued our culture since before the Easter uprising of 1916.

What is it? Well it’s so simple really, it’s a story. It’s the story of SEAMUS O’HOOLIGAN JR., BLACK IRISHMAN. It’s the story of a young man who battled racism and hate while women of every race, creed, and color threw themselves at him, women who were wooed by his extraordinary banjo plucking hands, a genetic gift no doubt from his Irish father who was nicknamed “Fingers”.

Seamus Jr. was conceived at Woodstock, when his father, All-Ireland champion banjo player and the leader of “’Fingers’ O’Hooligan and the Hooligans”, an Irish trad band from Kilrush, County Clare, were cut from the program right before taking the stage at the fabled concert. Of course Fingers was distraught and fled from the stage, finding refuge on a deserted bale of hay in the middle of some farmland. But serendipity appeared in the form of Zambian goddess Diane who seduced him into a nearby barn in Bethel NY, where Seamus Jr. was conceived.

We pick up our story eighteen years later when young Seamus finds his father’s bewitched banjo, inhabited by the Celtic mythical spirit Fionnuala, who leads the lad through a mystical portal to Ireland to reunite with his father. This fairy tale is now featured every week on Hibernian Radio as SEAMUS O’HOOLIGAN JR, BLACK IRISHMAN. It’s our comic soap opera created by Second City funnyman Greg Hollimon and yours truly. It’s our answer to the politically correct crap spewed daily in our media and yes it features Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and most importantly Shenanigans! It will make you laugh and make you smile. The lad’s journey is not without difficulties, both comic and heart-breaking, as we explore the world of Seamus O’Hooligan Jr. in search of his Irishness.

Greg Hollimon is an actor best known for his work on Comedy Central strangers with Candy. Hollimon grew up in the Chicago housing projects of Cabrini–Green. He started his illustrious career at Second City and has worked with me on several TV projects including “Nolan’s Cracker Barrell” with our old pal Peter Nolan, and my films TAPIOCA starring Ben Vereen, as well as the recent IN SEARCH OF WEEPING JIM about the life and times of the late Alderman James Ambrose Kearns, “the father of the Chicago flag”.

As Hibernian Media continues our fight against hibernophobia, we’re proud of our collaboration with Greg Hollimon and look forward to SEAMUS O’HOOLIGAN JR, BLACK IRISHMAN taking its place among the great Chicago radio comedies like FIBBER MCGEE AND MOLLY and harkens back to the halcyon days of Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre.

So don’t be hibernophobic, tune into Hibernian Radio and laugh along with SEAMUS O’HOOLIGAN JR, BLACK IRISHMAN. And you can start our reparations with your donation at hibernianmedia.org. Assuage your white guilt: listen, laugh, and donate!

Reparations? Yes!

For Hibernian Media? Yes!

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Known around town as “Houli,” he is former features columnist for The Chicago Sun-Times, Irish American News and currently Chicago correspondent for The Irish Echo. He began his career in 1973 as an apprentice with The American Shakespeare Festival, appearing in the classics there and in regional productions across the nation as well as Off-Broadway, on Broadway, on TV and in major motion pictures. He is a playwright and author of anthologies “Hooliganism Stories” and “More Hooliganism Stories” and the gonzo Mayoral campaign journal “Nothin’s on The Square”. Founder of the Annual Irish American Movie Hooley film festival each Fall at The Wilmette Theatre. He was honored as 2020/2021 “Irishman of the Year” by the Emerald Society, the Irish American Police Association. His Hibernian Radio Hour podcast can be found at hibernianradio.org and streaming worldwide on Sat. nights from 7-8PM on Global Irish Radio, GIR.ie.