A Son of Aran Read Online Free Page A

be a problem. I need to be in Galway on account of my business. I could fix up my place on the Long Walk or, if you’d prefer, we could go back to the house in Sickeen where I was born—there’s nobody living there now. Don’t worry about turf—I’ll keep you warm wherever we are.’
    This was the first indication Peadar had that they might not be going back to Aran.
    â€˜What was this about business?’ She had never before mentioned that she had a business.
    He was reluctant to inquire in case it upset their relationship; he wouldn’t want anything to come between them at this stage.
    â€˜I suppose I’ll have to settle for whatever you want,’ he said, ‘but I’ll need to go back to Aran frequently, and to stay there for a week or two at a time, planting and reaping. That’s where my home is and that’s where I want to settle. It holds many memories for me. It’s where I want to bring up our family if we are blessed with children.’
    â€˜Don’t worry, Peadar, I’ll come to Aran in my own time when I get things settled in Galway.
    Peadar had to be satisfied. Their marriage on the twentieth of April, 1934, was a quiet affair. Festy and a waitress friend of Saureen agreed to be their witnesses. After the ceremony in the parish church the group adjourned to the Globe Hotel where they drank glasses of whiskey and pints of porter to wash down a sumptuous meal of bacon, cabbage and potatoes. In his best tenor voice Peadar entertained the company with renderings, (as gaeilge), of An Spailpín Fánach , Thíos i Lár an Ghleanna and other Irish favourites.
    â€˜What could be better than this?’ he exclaimed to Saureen when they boarded the evening train to Clifden. ‘Are you happy?’ he asked, as they divested in their bedroom in the Atlantic Hotel.
    â€˜Very happy,’ she replied. ‘I love you Peadar—I hope we’ll be together always. Peadar broke into his improvised song:
    Saureen, my Saureen,
    I love you too, Saureen.
    The weeks after they returned to Galway were like an extended honeymoon. Peadar’s heart sang with joy as he resumed work at the fertiliser plant. His mates at work were openly friendly; they congratulated him on his marriage but, when they thought he was out of earshot, their remarks about women of their acquaintance who lived on the Long Walk tended to be less than complimentary. Phrases such as ‘fancy women’ and ‘bits on the side’ were thrown around in conversation. Peadar didn’t really understand their significance. Never for a moment did he think that they referred to his wife.
    â€˜Thank you, God,’ he prayed every day, ‘for sending Saureen my way.’
    From their front door, he loved to watch boats coming and going in the Claddagh Basin and he frequently talked with fishermen on their return from a day’s fishing. With his knowledge of the sea around the Aran Islands they had much in common. He was able to discuss with them where the best fishing grounds were to be found, and what species of fish were likely to be running at different seasons of the year. The Claddagh men respected his knowledge and invited him to join them on fishing trips whenever he was off work. He became familiar with fishing boats that plied in and out of Galway docks, and he was competent to take charge of any vessel when other hands were occupied pulling in nets or packing fish. He enjoyed this new found taste of his former life with Máirtín—he wished they were fishing together again back home in Aran. A cargo ship named The Sansander arrived regularly in the deepwater with fertilisers for MacDonacha’s. On those occasions, Peadar and his mates helped with unloading the cargo. While the ship was in dock, they worked side by side with the dockers and crew. The latter were of mixed nationality. Most of them had a poor knowledge of English and couldn’t