Kathleen: The Celtic Knot

Brown Bread

Mam is furious that she’s being summoned to school. She doesn’t know who to be more annoyed with, Kathleen or Mother Rosario. Mam has a good mind to give Kathleen a walloping. Apparently, Kathleen can’t be trusted to behave herself at school and not be drawing attention to herself. Kathleen apologizes. She seems to only be saying sorry these days.

Kathleen begs her mother to not be rude to Mother Rosario. If any of the mothers stand up to the nuns, they take it out on the children. She doesn’t want to risk getting into deeper trouble.

Mam insists the regular mothers are as good as the Mothers any day. But Kathleen knows that’s not how the nuns see it. Everyone knows that nuns are harder on children that come from the tenements than the children that come from the Artisan Dwellings. The nuns have a better chance of making something of those girls than of the daughters of the poorest classes. And Kathleen is from the poorest class. Everyone knows that those from the poorest class will marry young and produce broods of sickly, dirty children. And many of those children die young. Mam pulls on her best Sunday coat and puts on her smart black hat. She picks up her handbag for show, since the bag is empty, and begins walking to the school.

Kathleen trots along beside her wishing that the day could be over already. She tries to give instructions to Mam about what to say to Mother Rosario. Kathleen’s little sisters tag along behind. Kathleen tells her mother not to say that she was at a birth. Mam will make a holy show of her.

When they get inside, Mam calmly explains to Mother Rosario that she had to attend to a neighbor in an emergency in the middle of the night. And that is why Kathleen was late. Kathleen looks at her feet and lines up her two brown toecaps and stands very still. Mam says that it was a confinement and that young Liz was hemorrhaging. Kathleen blushes. Hemorrhaging means blood. Why did Mam have to mention blood?

Mother Rosario cuts Mam off mid-explanation. She explains she just wants to make sure everything is all right at home. She heard that Mam’s husband is out of work. Mam explains that the factory closed down. He had a good job as a foreman until the closure. Mother Rosario suggests that Da can work in the convent gardens a little bit. Just a few hours a week. But he can do it in his own time when it suits him. Their gardener is getting up there in age, and may retire in a year or two.

Kathleen knows that Da wouldn’t think much of that. But they say beggars can’t be choosers. Mam says she’ll mention it. Mam reassures Mother Rosario that Kathleen is just fine. Kathleen just asks so many questions.

Mother Rosario continues that she believes Kathleen is talented. Mam is surprised. This is the first time either of them had heard such news. Kathleen is terrible at school, always getting her sums wrong. Her handwriting is mediocre, and the teacher never asks her to read out her compositions out loud. She also always comes in last on sports day, too.

Mother Rosario clarifies Kathleen’s musical. That may be true. Kathleen is always humming and warbling, but she never thought of it as being musical. Everyone in her family sings. Irish songs, like “Molly Malone” and “Are You Right There, Michael?” They learn songs off of Polly’s wireless like “Stormy Weather” and hymns, such as “Sweet Heart of Jesus.”

Mother Rosario asks if perhaps they have a piano at home. Kathleen winces at Mam’s tone when she responds that she doesn’t. Mother Rosario suggests that Kathleen can practice on one of the school pianos if she wanted to take lessons. It would help develop her talent and encourage discipline. Mam is skeptical.

Mother Rosario changes direction and says that maybe instead of music, Kathleen would prefer dancing lessons. Irish dancing of course. It’s part of Our National Heritage, and many girls do it. It’s a lovely accomplishment for an Irish girl and it gives them an interest and keeps them out of harm’s way.

Mam is not very keen on “Our National Heritage.” Her family had all been on the treaty side in the Civil War. The pro-Treaty people, like Mam’s family, had wanted to settle with Britain after the War of Independence. But the anti-Treaty people, led by Mr. de Valera, thought the agreement with Britain wasn’t favorable to Ireland and wanted to keep on fighting for a better deal. The Civil War happened before Kathleen was born of course, when her parents were young. But Mam still doesn’t trust Dev, who was very big on Our National Heritage. Mam half-believes that Irish dancing, Gaelic football, and the Irish language had been invented single-handedly by Dev to make out that they were more Irish than they really were. She’s wrong about that, of course, but that’s the way her mind works.

Da is a Dev man. He’s delighted with the new constitution Dev brought in after the Civil War, but he has to keep his views to himself when Mam gets up on her hobbyhorse and starts in on politics.

Kathleen hopes to goodness Mam isn’t about to give this pet lecture of hers to the nun. The last thing Kathleen wants is for the two of them to get stuck in a political argument. Luckily, Mam tones it down a bit. She explains to Mother Rosario that they aren’t very Irishy-Irishy in the house. She says they believe the Irish and English need to live like neighbors and forget the past. The trade wars between them are only hurting the Irish people.

Mother Rosario chuckles. Kathleen had never heard her laugh before. She comments that Mam is well-informed. But perhaps, she has no actual objections to Irish dancing. Mam agrees. Kathleen, listening to the two go back and forth about the benefits of Irish dancing, thinks it sounds quite like brown bread: “good for your bowels as well, in all probability.” But Kathleen says nothing.

Finally, Mam agrees with Mother Rosario. Maybe they can give it a try.

Mother Rosario lists out some of the other students who do it at: Annie Ruane, Brigid Mullane, and Tess O’Hara. Kathleen winces again at this list. Those three girls are the snootiest girls in the class. She’s not going to like being lumped in with them. Her own friends, Angela and Nell, would desert Kathleen if she took up with them. Besides, they’d all been dancing since they were six and will be better at it than Kathleen will ever be. She tries to catch Mam’s eye to shake her head, but Mam is looking at Mother Rosario. And all because Kathleen burned the porridge.

When Kathleen tells Da what happened, he laughs. It could be worse. At least she didn’t land herself a job as an assistant gardener to an old fellow with arthritic knees.