Galway Bay (77 page)
I’m grateful to Barbara Leahy Sutton, the friend of a lifetime and a distinguished editor of the
Chicago Tribune.
She guided me personally and professionally.
Thank you, Martin Sheerin, my husband and most precious connection to Ireland, for letting me read to you when I got stuck. You always know how to help me out.
As an author and filmmaker, Mary Pat Kelly has told various stories connected to Ireland. Her award-winning PBS documentaries and accompanying books include
To Live for Ireland,
a portrait of Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume and the political party he led;
Home Away from Home: The Yanks in Ireland,
a history of U.S. forces in Northern Ireland during World War II; and
Proudly We Served: The Men of the USS
Mason, about the only African-American sailors to take a World War II warship into combat, whose first foreign port was Belfast. She wrote and directed the dramatic feature film
Proud,
starring Ossie Davis and Stephen Rea, based on the USS
Mason
story.
She’s written
Martin Scorsese: The First Decade
and
Martin Scorsese: A Journey; Good to Go: The Rescue of Scott O’Grady from Bosnia;
and a novel,
Special Intentions,
inspired by her experience as a nun.
Mary Pat Kelly worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter for Paramount and Columbia Pictures and in New York City as an associate producer with
Good Morning America
and
Saturday Night Live.
She received her PhD from the City University of New York.
Born and raised in Chicago, she lives on Manhattan’s Upper West Side with her husband, Web designer Martin Sheerin from County Tyrone.
MaryPatKelly.com
GalwayBayTheBook.com
Discussion Questions
1. “We wouldn’t die,” Honora tells her great-granddaughter. The theme of survival as victory informs
Galway Bay.
What qualities allow a person to triumph over horrific circumstances? Do Honora, Michael, Máire, Granny, and others show such characteristics? What motivates them, gives them strength? Have you faced difficulties in your own life that demanded such determination? Have your ancestors struggled through historic calamities? Do you think knowing their stories enhances your life, or do you think the past is past and should be forgotten? Have you looked into your genealogy? If so, how does what you discovered affect you?
2. The novel opens in the “before times,” when despite hardship and oppression the characters have created a place for themselves where songs, stories, communal celebration, faith, and family life can bring happiness. Did you find this portrayal believable? How does the way the Keeley family, Honora and Michael Kelly, Máire, and Owen Mulloy see themselves contrast with the way the landlords and British government regarded them? Do you think there are present-day communities judged differently by the larger society?
3. Many couples in literature fall in love at first sight, as do Honora and Michael. Do you believe in such instant attraction? Can it lead to long-lasting love? What do you think of the relationship between Honora and Patrick? How would you characterize Máire’s attitude toward men and marriage?
4. The two main women characters, Honora and Máire, do not conform to the usual stereotype of a nineteenth-century Irish woman. Do you think this is a strength or weakness of the novel? The two sisters have quite different characteristics and beliefs. Do you think they complement each other or do the differences bring mostly conflict? Honora’s and Máire’s biggest disagreement comes when their sons enlist in the Civil War. What do you think of each mother’s reaction and the way each chooses to cope with having her sons in combat?
5. Prayer and ritual play an important part in
Galway Bay.
What do you think of Honora’s beliefs, of Máire’s? Are there issues raised between them that have relevance to the practice of religion now?
6. Children have a central role in
Galway Bay.
What does each one—Paddy, Jamesy, Bridget, Stephen, Michael, Johnny Og, Thomas, Daniel, and Gracie—reveal about the effect horrific circumstances have on a child? How do these early experiences mark the children as they become adults?
7.
Galway Bay
incorporates characters and incidents from Irish-American history that are not widely known. Were you surprised by people such as James Mulligan and Billy Caldwell, and events such as the Irish units fighting each other in the Civil War and the Fenian invasion of Canada? Was anything else new to you?
8. Honora argues against the use of physical force to liberate Ireland. “I want my sons to live for Ireland, not to die for it,” she tells Patrick. He maintains that freedom must be won by armed struggle. What do you think of each one’s position? How are the same issues debated today?
9. One million Irish people died from starvation and related diseases while food was being exported from the country. How does the novel explore this situation? What do you make of the relief efforts attempted? Do any contemporary situations come to mind? Honora calls the escape of her family and two million more Irish from the Great Starvation “one of the greatest rescues in human history” and says, “We saved ourselves.” What do you think she means? What effect do you think those immigrants and their descendants—now forty-four million—have had on the United States? How does their story resonate for other immigrants and exiles, past and present?
10. Honora takes her grandchildren and great-grandchildren to the Irish villages at the World’s Columbian Exhibition to connect them to a heritage she hasn’t been able to pass down to them. Do you understand her disappointment at the display? Do you think it is possible to connect with the true culture of our ancestors? Is it desirable? Little Agnella’s interest encourages Honora. All will be well. Do you believe one child’s understanding can really make such a difference?