JACK LYNCH

JACK LYNCH'S opening priest routine didn't bode well - the dinosaur that is the Catholic Church is too easy a target now, unless the humour is really novel - but once the cute Cavan hoors, Quighie 'The Feather' and PJ Gallagan, strolled on the scene, things improved dramatically.

I come from North Longford, with all my ancestors coming from Cavan. So, I wasn't surprised to hear McGoverns and Bradys cropping up as Quighie and PJ talked their way through the local gossip. We heard PJ describing a local thus: "His heart is in the right place but his head is full of mad dog shite." We heard about Matty 'the Blindman', who took up sky-diving. Asked how he knew when to pull the cord, he replied that it was easy; the dog went ape altogether at about 1,500 feet.

I never knew I had an accent until I came to Dublin. And I had forgotten about the humour and richness inherent in so much country life until I heard Kevin MacAleer and Jack Lynch. Tonight, I realised again that behind the oftimes dull and conservative exterior of rural life there is a magical world of nods, winks and dry, subtle witticisms. Okay, maybe you only come across them once a week/month, but when you gather a couple of years' worth and put them in a show, as we had tonight, they match anything for sheer imagination and vitality.

Although Jack Lynch's Cavan twang wasn't exactly the rale thing, he certainly did know his geography; both of the land and the mind. He was quipping faster than a cow shites, with perhaps his funniest piece being the one about the fart. It goes like this: PJ was getting a lift to a wake. He was after a night on the tear and despite his best efforts, let off a silent, but deadly, fart. Of course, nobody in the car said anything, being the polite people that they are. Two batch loaves of farts later, with the interior of the car worse than a gas chamber, PJ felt impelled to break the choking silence. He glances out the window and says:

"Deh aul silage is very high teday."

The driver replies: "Aye. Tell me now, de yeh ate much a it yerself?"

• Gerry McGovern