Family History

Kate loses her job in a Catholic school because of Jack’s reputation. The advent of a new knitting factory close to the village means their home work knitting gloves becomes redundant and they are left without any money. The adult Michael then provides a long monologue that explains the fate of most of the characters. Agnes and Rose left the family and never returned; twenty-five years later, Michael discovered that they had gone to London, where they became destitute, and eventually died. Michael also learned, after Gerry’s death, that his father has maintained a legitimate wife and three children in Wales, about which Chris never knew. Uncle Jack died suddenly of a heart attack within a year of his return to Ireland.