Michael’s Family Behind the Affair

Michael’s marriage, Joanna’s illness and his son’s dependence reveal the family costs concealed by his relationship with Cushla.

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A Wife in the Margins

A Wife in the Margins A rival imagined Cushla hears that Michael has a wife and son but invents an unattractive, pitiable woman to make the affair easier to bear. Joanna exists in Cushla’s mind mainly as an obstacle. A person unseen That fantasy protects Cushla from confronting the marriage. It also reveals how little she knows about Michael’s home life or the people who share it.

An Old Irish Book

An Old Irish Book A name in the dictionary Cushla finds Siobhán de Buitléar’s name inside Michael’s copy of Dúil. Michael avoids explaining who she is and redirects attention to his own study of Irish. A trace of another life The inscription shows that an absent woman has already shaped the rooms Cushla enters. She senses a history but does not yet understand the marriage behind it.

The Restaurant Encounter

The Restaurant Encounter Meeting Joanna and Dermot Cushla encounters Michael, Joanna and their son at another table. Joanna takes Cushla’s hand and speaks warmly, while Dermot resembles the boy in Michael’s old school photograph. A false image collapses Joanna is neither grotesque nor contemptible; she is beautiful, ill and sincere. Cushla watches Michael resume his family role and sees how completely she had misimagined them.

The Truth About Joanna

The Truth About Joanna Illness and care Michael explains that Joanna has alcoholism and depression and has been hospitalized for treatment. Their son has been carrying the strain of her illness and his father’s absences. Context, not absolution The disclosure makes Michael’s divided life more comprehensible but does not erase his deception. Cushla must hold compassion for Joanna alongside anger at being kept in the dark.

A Father’s Funeral

A Father’s Funeral Public devotion The funeral minister recalls Michael’s love for Joanna and pride in Dermot. Cushla hears the family history celebrated while she sits among the mourners in secret. The cost of omission Michael’s death leaves his wife and son with an immense public loss and Cushla with a private one. The service gives no place to her relationship, yet makes its reality more painful.

Early spring 1975, when Cushla first hears about Michael’s family

The morning after Cushla first sleeps at Michael’s flat

Summer 1975, during Cushla and Gina’s seaside lunch

The next day, at Michael’s flat

After Michael’s assassination, at his funeral