CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THESE CONVERSATIONS:

Me (age 8, in the middle) with my brothers and our uncles, Tom and John, in Ireland in 1966.

(00:47) One man and his donkey’s 1,800-mile journey around Ireland, with Kevin O’Hara;
(21:06) An interview with Martin Daly, member of the Irish Parliament;
(37:02) Iowa’s former Poet Laureate, Mary Swander;
(53:57) Boxty on the griddle, boxty in the pan, with Kathy Byrnes.

TOURING IRELAND WITH A DONKEY (17-minute listen). In the summer of 1979, I was staying with my uncles on the family farm in northern County Roscommon. Unbeknownst to me, twenty miles south of us, another young American was setting out on an 1,800-mile walk around the perimeter of Ireland with a donkey. That man was Kevin O’Hara, and his book about the experience is so enchanting I’ve read it twice. After you listen to our conversation, you’ll wanna pick up a copy of Last of the Donkey Pilgrims. I strongly suggest acquiring it at a local bookstore.

DR. MARTIN DALY, OIREACHTAS EIREANN (14-minute listen). “Oireachtas Éireann” is Ireland’s name for its parliament, or congress. I heard of Martin’s work through my good friend and County Roscommon neighbor, Aidan Sampey, and was delighted that Martin accepted an invitation to come on The Fallon Forum. We discuss economics, Israel’s genocide in Gaza, immigration, agriculture, and Donald Trump. I wish we had an entire hour, but we covered a lot of ground in less than 15 minutes.

IOWA’S FORMER POET LAUREATE (15-minute listen). Mary Swander has been a prominent voice in Iowa and beyond for many decades. She joins me to discuss her Irish experience, which she frequently chronicles in her Substack, Mary Swander’s Buggy Land. More often, her columns reflect on her rapport with her Amish neighbors near Kalona, Iowa.

WHAT THE HECK IS BOXTY? (6-minute listen). You know that the Irish eat lots of potatoes. When I’ve visited or lived with my uncles in Ireland, and later after they passed away, it was common for a hungry adult to pack away 6-8 good-sized spuds at a meal. But what to do with the leftovers? Enter boxty — yet Kathy and I disagree on the best boxty recipe.

CHOPIN AND LOCAL FOODS. Kathy and I still have a few spots open for our Chopin concert/local-foods discussion on Thursday, April 3, 7:00-9:00 pm at 735 19th Street, Des Moines. RSVP HERE. And if you want a taste of the music, check out my youtube channel.

Thanks for reading, listening, and taking action. — Ed Fallon

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In addition to our PODCAST, listen to the Fallon Forum on these affiliates:

– KHOI 89.1 FM (Ames, Iowa)
– KICI.LP 105.3 FM (Iowa City, Iowa)
– WHIV 102.3 FM (New Orleans, Louisiana)
– KPIP-LP, 94.7 FM (Fayette, Missouri)
– KCEI 90.1 FM (Taos, New Mexico)
– KRFP 90.3 FM (Moscow, Idaho)
– WGRN 94.1 FM (Columbus, Ohio)