Gretta and Michael Furey's Memory

Dubliners

This flow follows Gretta Conroy's remembered love for Michael Furey from a song-triggered recollection to Gabriel's altered understanding.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Galway Connection The Galway Connection from "Dubliners". A Young Attachment A gentle companion Gretta remembers Michael Furey as a delicate young man with a good singing voice.

The Galway Connection from "Dubliners". A Young Attachment A gentle companion Gretta remembers Michael Furey as a delicate young man with a good singing voice.

A Young Attachment A gentle companion Gretta remembers Michael Furey as a delicate young man with a good singing voice. They walk together while she lives with her grandmother. A love held in memory The account is told long after the relationship, and its emotional force survives without any present contact. Galway remains the setting of a formative attachment.

The Song He Sang The Song He Sang from "Dubliners". Music as Remembrance A shared air Michael Furey sings “The Lass of Aughrim,” giving the song a personal association for Gretta.

The Song He Sang from "Dubliners". Music as Remembrance A shared air Michael Furey sings “The Lass of Aughrim,” giving the song a personal association for Gretta.

Music as Remembrance A shared air Michael Furey sings “The Lass of Aughrim,” giving the song a personal association for Gretta. The melody becomes a vessel for an earlier emotional life. Memory held dormant Years later, hearing the song will revive the feeling with little warning. Music connects the present gathering to a past that Gabriel does not know.

The Night Before Departure The Night Before Departure from "Dubliners". A Last Visit At the garden wall Michael Furey throws gravel at the window and waits in the rain. Gretta finds him shivering and begs him to go home.

The Night Before Departure from "Dubliners". A Last Visit At the garden wall Michael Furey throws gravel at the window and waits in the rain. Gretta finds him shivering and begs him to go home.

A Last Visit At the garden wall Michael Furey throws gravel at the window and waits in the rain. Gretta finds him shivering and begs him to go home. Love against survival He says he does not want to live. Gretta's memory preserves the visit as an act of devotion whose meaning she cannot entirely control.

The News of His Death The News of His Death from "Dubliners". Loss at Seventeen Death after the visit Gretta hears that Michael Furey has died shortly after her departure.

The News of His Death from "Dubliners". Loss at Seventeen Death after the visit Gretta hears that Michael Furey has died shortly after her departure.

Loss at Seventeen Death after the visit Gretta hears that Michael Furey has died shortly after her departure. She remembers the shock of learning the news and the intensity of his last appearance. A life made enduring The young man's death fixes him in her memory. He becomes more than a former companion: he represents a passion that remains beyond ordinary time.

The Story at the Hotel The Story at the Hotel from "Dubliners". The Past Enters the Marriage Gretta explains her tears After hearing “The Lass of Aughrim,” Gretta tells Gabriel about Michael Furey.

The Story at the Hotel from "Dubliners". The Past Enters the Marriage Gretta explains her tears After hearing “The Lass of Aughrim,” Gretta tells Gabriel about Michael Furey.

The Past Enters the Marriage Gretta explains her tears After hearing “The Lass of Aughrim,” Gretta tells Gabriel about Michael Furey. She recalls the rain, the garden, and the boy's refusal to live without her. Gabriel listens differently Her story displaces Gabriel's assumptions about their shared past. His jealousy gradually becomes pity and a recognition of how little he knows of her inner life.

Before Gretta leaves Galway for the convent

During Gretta's time in Galway

The rainy night before Gretta leaves Galway

About a week after Gretta enters the convent

Near dawn, after the Morkan dance