In the homesteads of the forties and fifties, ritual and reverence surrounded an O'Hehir performance. It was the centre piece of the day. The minute Sunday dinner - distinguishable by dessert - was over, you were warned not to stray too far if you wanted "to be called when Micheal comes on". Never "O'Hehir" or "Michael". Micheal was what himself and everybody else called him in those days.