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Father Flynn and Great Britain
The young, unnamed narrator of “The Sisters” decides to walk to Father Flynn’s house the day after he dies. While approaching the house, the narrator mentions that Father Flynn lived on Great Britain Street behind an unassuming store called Drapery. When the narrator arrives at Father Flynn’s home on Great Britain Street, he runs into two poor women and a telegram boy who evidently had the same idea. The four of them take a moment to read the card that has been pinned to the door along with a crape bouquet. The card is printed with the following text:
July 1st, 1895
The Rev. James Flynn (formerly of S. Catherine’s
Church, Meath Street), aged sixty-five years.
R. I. P.
In this key passage, the readers learn some background information about Father Flynn. Some of the information is inconsequential such as the name of Father Flynn’s church, how old he was when he died, and that he lived behind a shop. Other information, however, is significant, such as the name of Father Flynn’s street and the fact that Father Flynn died on the first of July.
Many of the stories in Dubliners register the weight of English imperialism on early twentieth-century Irish life. The history of English imperialism in Ireland is long and complex, and many of the issues that continue to affect Irish politics and culture to this day began in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. For example, King Henry VIII planted the seeds of religious conflict in Ireland. After rejecting Catholicism and establishing the Anglican Church, Henry VIII dissolved many of Ireland’s renowned monasteries. This act upset many Irish, the majority of whom were Catholic. The resulting religious division deepened under Elizabeth I, a staunch Protestant who considered Catholicism a threat to her rule. Concerned that Catholic rivals in Europe might use Ireland as a base from which to invade England, Elizabeth launched increasingly violent campaigns to pacify the Irish and secure their territory. However, her forces met with ever-greater resistance and resulted in the bloody Desmond Rebellions (1569–1573) and the Nine Years’ War in Ireland (1593–1603). These conflicts inspired centuries of Irish resistance and set the stage for Irish nationalism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Joyce used Ireland’s long and bloody history with England to symbolize Father Flynn’s corruption. He places Father Flynn’s home on Great Britain Street and, in doing so, he associates Father Flynn with the country for which the street was named. Furthermore, he has Father Flynn die on the first of July which is the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne, the largest battle fought on Irish soil in which the English defeated the Irish. Both of these examples allude to the controlling relationship that Father Flynn had with the narrator because Joyce links the text’s antagonist to the country that has been dominating the Irish people for centuries.
