Gorey

Gorey serves as both a shopping destination and a brief landmark in the Unnamed girl’s changing life with the Kinsellas: Edna Kinsella takes her there for clothes, while John Kinsella gives her money for an ice cream, and the town reappears on the drive back from her stay.

Setting and First Visit

Gorey is presented as a crowded town with a wide main street, where shops display beach balls in plastic nets, inflatable toys, plastic spades and buckets, and moulds for sand castles. The street’s abundance is conveyed through its particular wares: a transparent dolphin, ice cream being served from tubs with little plastic spoons, potted plants with hairy leaves, and a van selling dead fish. The Unnamed girl encounters the town through these visible, varied details rather than through a broad description of its history or geography.

Shopping and the Unnamed Girl

The Kinsellas’ visit gives Gorey a direct role in the girl’s care. John Kinsella hands her a pound note so she can buy a Choc-ice, making the outing include a small gift as well as necessary purchases. Edna Kinsella takes her to a draper’s, buys darning needles and four yards of oilcloth printed with yellow pears, then chooses cotton dresses, pants and trousers, and tops for the girl to try on behind a curtain. When the shop assistant remarks on the girl’s height, Edna answers that they are all tall. The visit thus places ordinary shopping alongside a moment of inclusion: the girl is being equipped with clothes of her own, and Edna speaks of her as part of the household.

Place in the Journey

Gorey also anchors the route home. On Sunday evening, after the girl has been allowed to get up and the household has packed again, the Kinsellas travel through Gorey before continuing along narrow roads through Carnew and Shillelagh. The town’s return in the narrative links the earlier outing, when the girl received clothes and a treat, to the departure from the Kinsellas’ home. Gorey is therefore more than a shopping backdrop: it marks a passage between the summer stay and the journey onward.