By Mike Houlihan

November 13^th, 2026

Just returned from a glorious one-week vacation in Ireland. It was, once again, a preview of Heaven.

I was wary about taking 35 of our radio listeners with us on this adventure, especially since I quit drinking on Nov. 14, 2024.

But even after 15 previous visits to the old sod, I am still enraptured by her beauty, and spirit. It is the Land of Epiphanies, and I have had many there.

From my first trip with my wife and twin sons in 2009, plunging my hands into the exact same baptismal font where my maternal grandfather Dennis Cusack was christened in 1861 to sharing a hotel room with my former radio partner Skinny Sheahan last week, I’ve gone from the sublime to the ridiculous.

I’ve encountered the divine each time, and even though it rained every single day I was there this year, I still believe the “spirit speaks louder in Ireland.” Ireland inspires me.

Along with Skinny we brought Irish pub owner Brendan O’Brien and the spirit of his late father  Boz, (who founded Southside Irish saloon Reilly’s Daughter) to celebrate their 50^th Anniversary. And while we were at it we celebrated the 50^th Anniversary of the coronation of Celtic Nightingale Catherine O’Connell as 1976 Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade Queen. (Her cousin Jennifer Battistoni  helped launch Kass’s career when he “misquoted” her when she was 1998 Queen. Don’t ask!)

We always do our first and last night of the tour staying at the Fitzpatrick Castle in Killiney, just outside Dalkey. It’s a posh sophisticated family hotel run by my old friends Eithne Fitzpatrick and her sons Mark and Joe. I remember hearing somebody say, “There’s a Hooligan in the Castle!”, back in ’09 and have never forgotten their kindness.

So every night I shared a room with Skinny. Now put yourself in my shoes, yikes! For those who don’t know Skinny, well google him.

He’d also just run in the Chicago Marathon two weeks ago and he’s eighty feckin’ years old.

You might say he’s Chicago very own leprechaun.

So that’s who I spent early mornings with, Skinny Sheahan Chicago Leprechaun.

Remember I don’t drink any more so I’m no longer the hipster I once was. I’m nap-tastic.

When two guys are sharing a room, they are also sharing one toilet, shower and sink. So, you try to be quick about it, but I’m a veteran of irritable bowel syndrome so negotiating the toilet can be a delicate subject.

It takes a while to become comfortable with Skinny. Sure he’s cracked in the head, but I have learned, after all these years, the method to his madness.

The best part of each evening was watching Skinny return to our room and get ready for bed, usually around 2AM Irish time. I would hit the sack around 9pm and get some much-needed rest. I’m an old fart too, not 80 like Skinny but 77 fer feck’s sake.

Every night I would awake to the sound of this bozo trying the key and talking to himself. He’d finally open the door and turn on the lights full blast, then announce, “What the f*ck!”

I was annoyed at first but then realized, “who am I kiddin’, this could be the best show in town”. Skinny’s goin’ east on Ashland and starts to tell me everything that happened that night. He and Brendan O’Brien and Skinny’s daughter Nora and her pals and a distinctly younger group, two hot chicks from the gaming industry Carmela and Carla, the Cannon Sisters: Mo and Denise, “aka Neesy”,and the Celtic Diva Catherine O’Connell.

Skinny would monologue the actions of each night and then segue into one of “64 stories Skinny Sheahan Told Me.”, a new book we’re working on. He has a great story about the Dali Lama and Maggie Daley and another about being asked to dance with Lady Diana at the Art Institute.  Skinny sez, “My father would turn over in his grave if he saw me dancing with a member of the British royal family.”

It would make a great movie, Lady Di and the Chicago Leprechaun.

On our last day in Ireland we visited Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, where many Irish patriots like Michael Collins and Padraic Pearse are buried. Catherine guided us to the “Gravediggers Pub”, right on the cemetery grounds, a uniquely Irish location as we reveled in the snug there.

Later I witnessed this graffiti in the toilet at Glasnevin cemetery “Joey Willaboughy O’Toole, add me on facebook!”

I have done so but haven’t heard back from Joey yet.

I was relieved when it was over but loved every minute of this year’s Ireland retreat. We had called it “one more time before we croak”, but even at our advanced age, there is plenty in Eire to make this a great testament to our friendships and shared love of Irish culture.

Never say never, hope to return next year.

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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.

His latest book ” Chicago Irish Mythology” is available on Amazon and wherever else you buy your books.

https://abbeyfealepress.com/

Even more info about Houli is available here, on his latest adventures: hibernianmedia.org