This Is Happiness

Noe and Christy attend the Easter Sunday Mass in St. Cecelia’s church, hoping to get Annie (Mrs. Gaffney) to notice Christy. Easter morning in Faha is serene and peaceful, with the sun shining and the countryside in harmony with the feast day. Noe and Christy ride their bicycles to the church, where they are enveloped in the scent of Easter lilies. The church is filled, and the congregation enjoys observing and admiring each other’s outfits and hats. Father Coffey delivers the Mass with seriousness and passion, and Noe’s attention is drawn to Mrs. Gaffney, whom he had seen before at the local bookmaker’s shop. Although Christy’s meticulous plans to get Annie to notice him are unsuccessful, Noe feels compelled to give Christy hope and lies to him, saying that Annie did indeed notice him during the church service.

Thinking of Christy, Noe reflects on the significance of an older man’s attempts to make amends with Annie. The scene is set on Easter Sunday, with the decision to have dinner outdoors. The religious nature of Easter is emphasized, with the characters treating it as an undeniable reality. Noe feels a sense of guilt and transgression but is preoccupied with the arrival of Mother Acquin, a formidable figure from his time at the seminary school. The meal is quickly consumed, and Christy, hopeful because he thinks Annie noticed him, eagerly indulges in compliments and optimism. Eventually, Noe is confronted by Mother Acquin, who expects him to return to seminary school and serves as a catalyst for introspection and the confrontation with his past and potential future. The chapter ends with Noe walking by the river, where Christy finds him and utters the name “Junior Crehan,” a musician whose performance he wants Noe to see.

The chapter describes various musicians whose work contributed to Clare’s rich musical tradition, providing additional information on Junior Crehan, a legendary fiddle player known for his remarkable memory of music or, as Noe dubs him, “a walking encyclopaedia of tunes, dances, airs and stories, in whose playing was the playing of all those before him on into the mists of the long ago” (148). In the primary storyline, Noe and Christy embark on a journey to hear Junior Crehan play the fiddle. They cycle through the moonlit roads, encountering lively scenes of people and music. They visit several pubs, where they find talented musicians who transform the atmosphere with their music.

Christy, overwhelmed with sentiment, resolves to declare his enduring love for Annie Mooney through a heartfelt, albeit loud, serenade outside her window in the early morning. Filled with deep emotion and buoyed by the mystical quality of the dawn, Christy sings passionately, causing a ruckus that wakes the entire town. Despite the grandeur and earnestness of his performance, however, there is no sign of Annie. The curtains of her window never move. Even so, Christy remains hopeful, believing that Annie heard his song but is not yet ready to forgive him. As he and Noe leave the village, they leave behind them the sensational scene of Christy’s impassioned serenade, a story that would become a legend in Faha. Noe struggles with guilt over the lie he told Christy but finds himself hoping for a positive outcome, demonstrating his deep connection to Christy’s emotional journey.

Noe remains in bed on Easter Monday while Christy gets up and leaves without explanation. Doady and Ganga go to the park to watch a Gaelic football match between Boola and Faha, a rivalry steeped in parish pride. Meanwhile, life goes on as normal, with the sun shining and Hickey selling ice cream to the pink-cheeked spectators. The Booleans, seeking entertainment, stay in Faha and engage in various activities. Christy’s dawn serenade quickly becomes a legend around the town.

Noe recounts an incident that occurred when he was 12, in which his mother falls in the street and he feels responsible for not preventing the accident. Noe describes the moment of his mother’s fall, his shock and helplessness, and the vivid details of the impact. Despite the fall, his mother survives but loses her ability to walk. Burdened with guilt, Noe initiates a series of nighttime negotiations in the form of prayer to absolve himself and help his mother recover. However, as his mother loses her speech, the 12-year-old Noe realizes that prayer alone may not be enough to address the situation.

In a return to the primary storyline, the people of Faha are enjoying a stretch of fine weather following Easter. Although they feel a sense of blessedness, they hesitate to openly acknowledge it, fearing that bad luck might follow. The arrival of electricity crews in the town heightens the feeling of change and progress. Noe, along with Christy, works on completing the memorial while observing the electrification taking place around them. Noe contemplates Christy’s state of mind, wondering how his failed serenade to Annie Mooney has affected him. The two have a conversation, and Christy admits that he broke Annie’s heart by leaving her at the altar many years ago.

Noe reflects on his initial shock and disappointment upon learning that Christy, whom he idolized, had left Annie at the altar. Noe realizes that there are countless ways to tell a story and that both egregious mistakes and noble endeavors can coexist within the same person. He also contemplates on the ways in which older people must incorporate their younger selves and experiences into their present selves.

Despite his disillusionment, Noe continues to assist Christy in securing signatories for the electricity project. They visit different households and learn that the story of Christy and Annie has already spread far and wide. Noe observes Christy’s geniality in the face of opposition to his endeavor to gain Annie’s forgiveness and notes how skillfully his friend avoids confrontation. Later, as Noe spends time with Doady, he discovers that Annie Mooney abandoned her wedding dress and fled to Killarney after the failed wedding. She eventually worked as a chambermaid at the Lake Hotel, where she caught the interest of Arnold Gaffney, a chemist, who eventually proposed. Despite Annie’s initial rejection of his proposal, Arnold persisted and eventually won her over. They married in a small church, and Noe imagines how the scene must have played out.

In this chapter, Noe reflects on his past and describes the events that led to Mrs. Gaffney reopening the local chemist shop in Faha. In Noe’s tale, Father Coffey, the parish priest, takes it upon himself to convince Mrs. Gaffney to reopen the shop temporarily while they await a qualified pharmacist. With no immediate solution, the temporary arrangement becomes permanent, and Mrs. Gaffney operates the chemist’s shop without the necessary qualifications. The locals accept this, as Mrs. Gaffney’s experience and knowledge prove valuable in providing remedies for common ailments.

Determined to see and talk to Annie himself, Noe visits the chemist’s shop and sees her standing behind the counter. He invents a headache as an excuse to converse with her and impulsively mentions Christy McMahon. Although he expects a dramatic response from Annie, her demeanor shows no visible changes. Despite Noe’s anticipation of precipitating a significant revelation, life continues seemingly unchanged after that, and the elderly Noe reflects on the unpredictability of life and the coping mechanisms he has developed to shield himself from its uncertainties. He imagines a different scenario in which Annie is deeply affected by the mention of Christy’s name and relives the emotions associated with their past.