The tale is narrated by Jackie, a seven-year-old boy who must make his first confession before receiving his first Communion. A precocious boy, Jackie is distressed because his paternal grandmother has moved from the country to live with his family. He is disgusted by the woman’s love of porter beer, her inclination to eat potatoes with her hands, and her favoring his sister, Nora, with an allowance denied him. The boy feels that his sister and grandmother side against him and make his life unbearable. He has been prepared for the sacraments of penance and communion by another elderly woman, Ryan, who impresses on the children the gravity of the rituals by emphasizing the perils of damnation. As Jackie tersely remarks, “Hell had the first place in her heart.” She tempts the children with a half-crown if one of them will hold a finger in a flame for five minutes, and she relates a terrifying story of a man who has made a bad confession. The man comes to a priest late at night demanding that he be allowed to confess immediately; as the priest dresses, day dawns, the man disappears, and the only evidence of his presence is a pair of palm prints burned into the priest’s bedstead. Jackie fears that he has broken all the commandments and is forced to go to confession with Nora. Inside the confessional, he plants himself on the armrest and tumbles out of the booth when trying to talk with the priest. An outraged Nora begins beating him, but...
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Frank O'Connor [pseudonym of Michael O'Donovan] was born and educated in Cork where he became a librarian. In 1918 he joined the IRA and fought in the War of Independence. He opposed the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty and fought in the Civil War before being arrested and imprisoned by the Free State at Gormanstown in 1922. After his release in 1924 O'Connor taught Irish in schools in Sligo, Wicklow and Cork.
Frank O'Connor [pseudonym of Michael O'Donovan] was born and educated in Cork where he became a librarian. In 1918 he joined the IRA and fought in the War of Independence. He opposed the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty and fought in the Civil War before being arrested and imprisoned by the Free State at Gormanstown in 1922. After his release in 1924 O'Connor taught Irish in schools in Sligo, Wicklow and Cork.
His first collection of short stories 'Guests of the Nation' (1931) brought him immediate critical acclaim. Throughout the 1920's and 1930's O'Connor sat on the Board of Directors of the Abbey Theatre, Dublin and frequently lectured abroad while continuing to write and publish many volumes of short stories. His reputation grew world wide and he is now acknowledged as one of the 20th century's greatest short story writers.
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