The story begins in a Turkish barber in Cork where David Monagan, the American protagonist with Irish roots, gets involved into a conversation with the Iraqi barber names Ahmad. The situation gets quite awkward as the nations of the two happen to be at war at the moment. Then, after giving the reader a glimpse into his future life as a settled Cork resident, he starts his story from the beginning. He describes how his three children, especially his youngest, and his wife felt about moving to the second largest city in Ireland, a place that Monagan had nostalgic and romantic feelings about.
As a student he has experienced Ireland already and as he claims himself “his first vision of Ireland will never be forgotten”. He is utterly hooked by the charm of Cork before he even arrives. Then he describes the neighborhoods and their new Victorian house at which the family is utterly captivated. On their first day, the whole family sets out to explore the surroundings. At first they are overwhelmed, yet slowly but surely David starts to have his first doubts as the modern Ireland is quite different from the one he had been expecting. The ambience is quite chaotic but cheerful; young stylish people chat on their mobiles all of the time, the pedestrians (with no priests or nuns among them) carelessly cross the rushed streets, the modern commerce has obviously gotten the upper hand and the conservative (anty-lustfullness) touch has definitely diminished. Clearly, the world has changed.
The next day, the neighbors start to introduce themselves. The Managan’s are warned that they should watch themselves as “everybody minds each other’s business constantly- Fresh information is treasured like pearls plucked from an oyster.” Afterwards he describes the ill-luck he had with his credit card while shopping for groceries and how he was denied a checking account as the personal didn’t trust him enough (yet).
a.) Cultural background
“Black and Tans”
In the early 1900’s, the Royal Irish Constabulary, England’s police force in Ireland, was having a difficult time recruiting. Its barracks were the targets of repeated raids and ambushes by Irish rebels. By 1919, English authorities advertised for men who were willing to “face a rough and dangerous task.” That task was to join the RIC in patrolling an increasingly hostile Ireland. Once in Ireland it quickly became apparent that there were not enough uniforms for all those who had joined up. Therefore they wore a mixture of uniforms – some military, some RIC. This mixture gave them the appearance of being in khaki and dark police uniform. As a result, these men got the nickname “Black and Tans”, and it stuck.
The Irish War of Independence in 1920-21
Following the Anglo- Irish War (War of Independence) the Government of Ireland Act createdpartition. Twenty-six southern counties became the Irish Free State and six northeastern counties–Northern Ireland–remained part of Britain.
Cork city
Cork (Corkonians) (Irish: Corcaigh) is the second city of the Republic of Ireland and Ireland’s second most populous city after Dublin. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork. The city has a population of 119,143.
The city’s name is derived from an Irish word corcach meaning “marshy place”, referring to its situation on the River Lee. The River Lee flows through the city, an island in the river forming the main part of the city centre just before the Lee flows into Lough Mahon and thence to Cork Harbour, one of the world’s largest natural harbours. The city is a major Irish seaport — with quays and docks sited along the broad waterway of the Lee on the city’s East side.
Sport is intensely important to the people of Cork, with Gaelic football, hurling and association football the most popular.
