And Limerick town has no happier hearth
Than mine has been with my man from the North.
If he comes back early and sees Bridey in the kitchen the man from
the North says, Gossip, gossip, gossip, and stands there with his cap on
till she leaves.
Brideys mother and other people in our lane and lanes beyond will
come to the door to ask Dad if hell write a letter to the government
or a relation in a distant place. He sits at the table with his pen and bot-
tle of ink and when the people tell him what to write he says, Och, no,
thats not what you want to say, and he writes what he feels like writ-
ing.The people tell him thats what they wanted to say in the first place,
that he has a lovely way with the English language and a fine fist for the
writing.They offer him sixpence for his trouble but he waves it away
and they hand it to Mam because hes too grand to be taking sixpence.
When the people leave he takes the sixpence and sends me to Kathleen
OConnells shop for cigarettes.
Grandma sleeps in a big bed upstairs with a picture of the Sacred Heart
of Jesus over her head and a statue of the Sacred Heart on the mantel-
piece. She wants to switch from gaslight to electric light someday so
that shell have a little red light under the statue forever. Her devotion
to the Sacred Heart is known up and down the lane and in lanes
beyond.
Uncle Pat sleeps in a small bed in a corner of the same room
where Grandma can make sure he comes in at a proper hour and kneels
by the bed to say his prayers. He might have been dropped on his head,
he may not know how to read and write, he may drink one pint too
many, but theres no excuse for not saying his prayers before he goes to
sleep.
Uncle Pat tells Grandma he met a man who is looking for a place
to stay that will let him wash himself morning and night and give him
two meals a day, dinner and tea. His name is Bill Galvin and he has a
good job down at the lime kiln. Hes covered all the time with white
lime dust but surely thats better than coal dust.
Grandma will have to give up her bed and move into the small
room. Shell take the Sacred Heart picture and leave the statue to watch
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