IS IT possible to be anything but tourists in the territory of our fathers? Richard Beirne's outwardly simple documentary, Dadiand (RTE Radio 1, Thursday), started off as a lament about losing touch with home when you reworking in the Big Smoke, but - partly by the addition of a great title - ended up asking that more profound question.

Beirne's work was an autobiographical visit to Roscommon, put in a broader context by an unremarkable short preliminary piece,

The Bus Home, about all the young country folk who leave work, school or bedsit to board private coaches on a Friday evening for a weekend in the bosom etc.

Then it was Dadland and the sounds of the Beirne family farm, interrupted by Richard Beirne's own awkward reading of his thoughts and fears in this increasingly strange place. The aural ambience of the documentary (under Aodan O Dubhghaill's sound supervision) was, if anything, too good, too relentless; as we listened to Beirne's father and younger brother Derek chat about the farm, we could have done with someone clearing those feckin' birds out of the shed.

There were bigger problems, initially, with Beirne's emotional narration, which only verged on the poetical and rarely transcended the obvious. Okay, he feels left out, scarcely understands farm talk, admires the other men's ease around the place. Yes, a lot of people will relate to that, right enough. So?

Moreover, the rhetorical assumptions that to be able to run a farm and guide a sheep dog is "real work" and means a person is "in touch with nature" are common enough, but no less irritating for that. I was ready to dismiss Dadland as a worthy outing for the pastoral myth - and switch it off.

I'm glad I didn't, because this programme had a sting in its tail. Derek, the younger brother who will get the farm and had seemed to be an easy appendage of his father, is lonely and anxious to get away for a while - Australia, preferably. He spoke directly to us about being surrounded by men of his father's generation: "It's okay, I'd have a lot in common with them, but..."

Suddenly the myth had been turned on its head, Richard's yearning for pastoral Roscommon giving way to Derek's desire to escape and stake his claim in the wilderness Down Under.

When Derek brought his desire to his parents, and the microphone with him, we learned, heartbreakingly, that this land is Dad's land - that Derek's relationship with the farm is on terms set by his father, who has no intention of letting go for a few months.

In the end, Richard's frustrating separation from home and hearth sounded almost exactly like freedom.

Dadland might have helped many listeners reflect on the "parental equality" seeking, separated fathers who featured in these pages a fortnight ago and on Thursday's Today with Pat Kenny (RTE Radio 1, Monday to Friday).

Kenny's new show is starting to hit its stride, helped by radio friendly stories such as dole sponging and anti drugs activism - all those frank talking people with working class accents. (But where, oh where is Joe Duffy?) But Pat gave the angry separated dads a ridiculously easy ride.

At one stage he summed up the objections to their advocacy of joint custody like this: "There is the all men are bastards' school of thought out there ... that men are doing this [seeking joint custody] just to be vindictive, to disrupt women's lives."

Sure, Pat, all men are bastards absolutely dominates Irish public thinking, especially among the radical feminist judiciary.

Without any disrespect to the often agonising stories of men like those to whom Kenny spoke, we need to look more closely at what lies behind "custody". The concept clearly reflects a view of children as a form of property, and in this context - and in the context of marital conflict - it's easy to see why someone might not want to concede full "ownership" in favour of mere "access".

It would be useful to know how often the men seeking joint custody of their children are actually looking for equal time as parents, as opposed to equal say - a virtual veto - decisions about schooling, medical care etc. Over to you, Pat.