This Is Happiness

Noe describes the progression of the plans that led to the long-awaited electrification of Faha and Christy’s arrival. Faha was one of the last areas in Ireland to receive electricity. An Area Organiser named Harry Rushe had canvassed the parish to promote the benefits of electricity and secure signatures from residents. After collecting signatures, there was a period of uncertainty during which nothing seemed to happen. However, Father Coffey eventually announces a meeting to establish a Rural Electrification Committee for Faha. The meeting takes place in a packed hall, and the decision is made that Faha will be the Rural District Headquarters instead of the town of Boola. The details of the electrification process are discussed, including the need for storage and the hiring of local workers. To complete the electrification effort, one million poles need to be erected across the country. The audacity of the project captivates the people of Faha, and many become swept up in the vision of progress and modernity that electricity represents.

Continuing the story of the events that led up to Christy’s arrival, Noe recounts a negotiation occurring between Dermot Mangan, a forester representing the Irish State, and Mr. Onni Salovarra, a Finnish businessman, for the purchase of electricity poles. Mangan, sent to Finland to secure a deal, meets Salovarra in Helsinki and negotiates the price per pole. Mangan successfully bargains the price down to £2 per pole through a series of telegrams written in Irish. However, the Electricity Board then requests that Mangan inspect each pole before shipment. After detailing this story, Noe further highlights the themes of storytelling and the unreliability of memory, saying, “I drifted a bit. It’s licensed by time on the planet. The bones of it are fact” (61).

The novel shifts back to a focus on the primary narrative, just after Christy agrees to board with Doady and Ganga. Doady hopes that her husband, Ganga, will get a job related to the electricity project. Later, during a conversation about electricity, Ganga unexpectedly displays knowledge of electrical terms, impressing everyone. In a whimsical moment, Christy offers Ganga a job, but Ganga reveals that he knows someone who should be ahead of him in line—Noe. The chapter ends with Christy pointing to Noe, indicating that he should take the job, further setting the stage for developing the relationship between the two characters.

Doady asks Noe to take Christy into the village. They set off on bicycles, with Christy singing a love song along the way. They arrive at Craven’s, a dim and despairing pub on the fringe of the village. In the pub, Christy unexpectedly bursts into song and captivates the patrons, evoking a raw and deeply felt emotion that touches everyone present. As Noe observes, “Now, I’m not saying Christy was a great singer, or even a good singer. [… But] the singing stopped your heart. It reached in and seized it and didn’t let go. It said Listen, here’s a human being who has suffered for love” (71). After the song, Noe and Christy sit silently, unable to fully comprehend the moment’s intensity. They continue to drink, and as the night progresses, the patrons gradually leave until the remaining customers are reminded of closing time. Despite their initial intention to leave, Noe and Christy find themselves unable to move, caught in a gentle perplexity.

Noe wakes up after a night of heavy drinking with Christy. He tries to recall Christy’s stories the previous night about his adventurous life, but the memories are foggy. They go downstairs to find the house in disarray as Doady and Christy air out the mattresses and belongings in the yard to welcome springtime and Easter. The sunny day brings a sense of renewal and cleansing to the town as the people begin to acknowledge the long period of rain they had endured.

Noe and Christy walk their bicycles to Mrs. Blackall’s house. Mrs. Blackall, an older woman with a deteriorating mind, welcomes them. They enter the dilapidated house, and Mrs. Blackall prepares tea in the basement kitchen. Christy tries to jog her memory by mentioning that he knew Annie Mooney, but she still doesn’t recognize him. They leave, and Christy reveals that Annie Mooney was his “greatest mistake” (97). Without dwelling on it, he starts cycling downhill.

Noe and Christy decide not to go to Craven’s again. They bring the furniture back inside at twilight, placing the mattress upside down and back-to-front on the bed frame as a means of renewal. Ganga enjoys sitting in an armchair outside, experiencing the thrill of an open-air room. They play a card game called Forty-Five in the garden until nightfall, using it to pass the time and conjure up a sense of good fortune. Doady shares news of Mrs. O’Dea’s impending passing and Gadge Gallagher’s unique strategy to secure salvation. The chapter ends with the card game concluding and Noe asking Doady about Annie Mooney. In the attic bedroom, Noe tells Christy the information he learned: that Annie Mooney is Mrs. Gaffney, the chemist’s wife, but Christy remains silent.

On a warm and sunny Good Friday in Faha, the locals ignore actual temperatures and rely on their bodily sensations to determine the heat. The favor of the sun on Easter is equated with the favor of the Son, and the scorching heat is embraced as a blessing. Good Friday is a universal quiet day, with closed pubs and only necessary work allowed. However, exceptions are made for activities like poaching, barbering, and shopping for Easter outfits. Noe contemplates his own restlessness and uncertain future, feeling the absence of his religious upbringing, reflecting that “[S]tillness can be a kind of suffering. And when you’re young, the unlived life in you, all that future, urgent and unreachable, can be unbearable” (104). Dealing with these feelings, he engages in an act of defiance by working and whitewashing Blackall’s outhouses on a day on which work is forbidden, seeking solace in the moment and creating a memory that will stay with him forever.

Noe reflects on the preparations for Easter in the village of Faha. The village awakens with urgency as people rush to prepare for the feast day. Each family has its unique traditions and decorations associated with Easter, ranging from placemats and napkins and the colors of eggs to antique Easter ware and special serving dishes. The shops in Faha are well stocked with everything needed for the celebration.

The chapter also introduces Mrs. Moore, Doady’s occasional housekeeper. Mrs. Moore, an elderly widow with extensive knowledge of the village’s history, is a fixture in the household and provides companionship for Doady. Noe experiences a sense of loss as he watches his grandparents go to church for the Easter Vigil while he remains behind and finds solace in playing the fiddle. The music allows him to “escape the boundaries of [him]self awhile” (115) and be carried away in time and emotion. Christy tells Noe of a realization he had when he turned 60. Referencing himself in the third person, he says, “You’ve still time, Christy. You’ve still time to go back and right all the mistakes you’ve made” (117). The chapter reveals that he has come to Faha to right his biggest mistake: Annie Mooney.