Hibernian Radio with Mike "Houli" Houlihan

Abdon Pallasch

Fox’s Pizza in Orland Park & Mokena, Guinness, Madden Funds and Flood Brothers Disposal present the Hibernian Radio Hour at our newest recording location known as ‘The Bunker’ and we begin the show with an episode of ‘Black Irishman’ which tells the story of Seamus O’Hooligan Jr, starring Greg Hollimon. This week we welcome Abdon Pallasch, an Irish American journalist who has previously worked at the Sun Times and Tampa Tribune. He is the Director of Communications for the Illinois State Comptroller, Susana A. Mendoza, and also co-hosts a podcast with Robert Herguth called “The Rebel Kind” produced by Entropy Media. The podcast, which has 12 episodes in total, takes a deep dive into the story of David Rupert, a Chicago trucker who went undercover and infiltrated the real IRA. He stood trial as the main witness against Michael McKevitt, the real IRA’s paramilitary leader. Abdon tells the listeners how he ended up meeting David Rupert who was looking to share his story in a tell-all book. Abdon shares the incredible story behind Rupert going to Ireland to infiltrate the IRA which stemmed from him trying to pick up a woman at an Irish pub in Florida. “David Rupert liked adventure, he liked the danger.”. They just released the 7th episode of the podcast which focuses on the Good Friday Agreement and Abdon shares some of the well-known Irish and Irish-American faces he met while researching this unbelievable story. He plays a snippet of one of the podcast episodes and encourages our listeners to check the rest out here! Abdon also chats to Houli about his Irish heritage, his wonderful wife and the Irish people’s special connection to the Native Americans. Houli then brings us up to date on some upcoming events followed by the recent obits. We head over to ‘Houli-Town’ to end another great show this week on Hibernian Radio!

Bill Kissane

Fox’s Pizza in Orland Park & Mokena, Guinness, Madden Funds and Flood Brothers Disposal present the Hibernian Radio Hour at our newest recording location known as ‘The Bunker’ and we begin the show with another episode of ‘Black Irishman’ which tells the story of Seamus O’Hooligan Jr, starring Greg Hollimon. This week we welcome retired police officer Bill Kissane to the show. Bill grew up on the west side and has some great stories to share from the old neighborhood. He attended Weber High School and spent 36 years as an officer in Arlington Heights before retiring in 2011. His father was a Juvenile Officer and worked with the infamous Si O’Donnell, one of the founders of The Emerald Society. Bill spent time in the Army during Vietnam and shares the story of how he got started with the Police Department in ’75.  These two discuss Bill’s family and his Irish heritage as well as some of the cases he worked on such as the cyanide-laced Tylenol case back in the 80’s. “That was much bigger than what a department could handle!” He has been playing the pipes with The Emerald Society Pipes & Drums Band for 36 years and explains how he got started with the band.”The Emerald Society represents the Police Department in a very positive way!” Bill goes on to explain the reasons behind the Pipes and Drums being formed including the generous contribution Mayor Jane Byrne made to the cause. The ongoing madness surrounding police in the media and the most interesting places the Emerald Society Band has played are just some of the many topics Bill covers this week. Houli then brings us up to date on some upcoming events including The Emerald Society’s Annual Southside Meeting on April 25th at The Cork & Kerry in Beverly. Then it’s over to catch up on last week’s obituaries as well as the most recent obits followed by a quick trip to ‘Houli-Town’ to end another great one this week on Hibernian Radio!

Dr. Kammie Juzwin and Gene Roy

Fox’s Pizza in Orland Park & Mokena, Guinness, Madden Funds and Flood Brothers Disposal present the Hibernian Radio Hour at our newest recording location known as ‘The Bunker’ and we begin the show with the very first episode of ‘Black Irishman’ which tells the story of Seamus O’Hooligan Jr, starring Greg Hollimon. This week we welcome back our good pal Gene Roy and joining him this week is Dr. Kammie Juzwin. Gene grew up in St. Joachim’s parish and joined the Force in 1986. He began his career at just 20 years old as a telecommunicator/dispatcher and moved to the Office of Professional Standards where he investigated police shootings and allegations of excessive force. He worked in Narcotics Investigations for the State Attorney General’s Office in North Dakota and worked his way up to become CPD Chief of Detectives. Gene decided to get involved in officer wellness during his retirement by helping officers take care of their mental health. Dr. Kammie Juzwin is a clinical psychologist and holds professional certification as a Police Psychologist. She is a Psychologist Consultant for Bartlett Illinois Police Department, where her primary role is officer wellness and support. This incredible lady provides wellness and officer-involved critical incident consultation and has been a volunteer on several crisis intervention and disaster response teams. Kammie has been active in providing mental health services to First Responders as a member of the Northern Illinois Critical Incident Stress Management Team (NICISM) and she has also partnered with the Haymarket Center of Chicago to provide a series of Trauma Recovery Retreats for First Responders. “They do incredible things in the community and never turn anyone away.”  The media’s influence on the community, the dangers our officers face that the public don’t see and the importance of taking care of our First Responders are some of the main topics discussed this week. We are honored to have two incredible selfless people on the show this week and we’ll be sure to have them back! Please donate and help support the heroes that keep us safe everyday at this website. You can also contact Kammie directly at [email protected] to learn more about the wonderful programs she helps to run. Houli then brings us up to date on some upcoming events but we’ll save the obits for next week’s show, folks. That’s followed by a quick joke to end another great show this week!

M. Emmet Walsh

Fox’s Pizza in Orland Park & Mokena, Guinness, Madden Funds and Flood Brothers Disposal present the Hibernian Radio Hour at ‘The Bunker’ and we begin the show with the 9th episode of ‘Black Irishman’ which tells the story of Seamus O’Hooligan Jr, starring Greg Hollimon. We begin this week’s show with a tribute to an old friend and the greatest character actor of our generation, the late M. Emmett Walsh (Michael) who passed recently. We take a look back at our 2014 interview from The Skinny & Houli show with this acting legend. He was starring in “The Night Alive” at Steppenwolf at the time and chats about that experience with the guys. A Vermont native, this ‘actor’s actor’ looks fondly back over some of his many films with Skinny and Houli including Midnight Cowboy, Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Brubaker, Straight Time and The Jerk. Michael is 2nd generation Irish and discusses his heritage, his family hails from County Cork & County Clare. The craic is mighty between these 3 old pals and they end this wonderful interview with a discussion on some of the interesting characters Michael has played in the past. Then Skinny joins Houli on the phone from Florida to reminisce about that interview from almost a decade ago as well as discussing M. Emmett’s incredible legacy and talent. It’s a well-needed reunion between Skinny & Houli this week and these longtime pals also discuss Eileen O’Neill Burke’s recent win in the Cook County State’s Attorney Race along with the usual craic and banter! Houli brings us up to date on some upcoming local events including the Emerald Society’s Annual Southside Meeting on April 25th at The Cork & Kerry on Western Ave. Then it’s over to the obituaries followed by a quick trip to “Houli-Town”.