‘No, Father Galvin was a young curate then. Father Keating was the man in charge, a right cranky old bastard if ever there was one. “There’s a great home above in Carrigbrack,” he said to Mam. “The nuns there know how to deal with girls who get themselves into trouble. And they’ll deal with the baby too.”’

‘He made it sound like you got pregnant on your own.’

‘That was the way people spoke.’ She shook her head. ‘Some still do. Anyway, he wouldn’t let it rest. Two or three times he called to the house, telling Mam she’d regret her foolishness. “That girl is bringing shame on a good family,” he said.’

‘The old bollocks,’ said Tess, her jaw trembling. Noel O’Grady. Of all the men in the world, her father was Noel O’Grady.

‘You said it. I swore I’d never see the inside of that church again, and apart from Mam and Dad’s funerals, and your own big days – christening, Communion and that – I’ve kept my word.’

‘And there I was as a kid, trotting up to Mass on my own, wondering why you stayed at home.’

‘Bless you, what a funny little thing you were. I could hardly stop you. You always had a mind of your own.’ Her mother made a Tess-like face, big eyes peering out from beneath a long fringe, mouth in a determined line.

For a moment, they both laughed.

Tess touched her mother’s hand. The skin felt paper-thin, but was warmer than she’d expected. ‘Did your parents know about …?’

‘I lied to them, told them your father was a guy I’d met in Ennis and that he’d gone to London. I shouldn’t have lied, but I was scared. I wanted everything and everybody to go away. Besides, I didn’t know how they’d react if I told the truth.’

‘And did you tell Noel O’Grady that you were expecting his baby?’

‘Mmm. He said, “I take it you’ll be making sure the child gets given to a good home.” Then he said he was sorry, but that keeping you would be a mistake. He gave me a right old sob story about how miserable life was with Breege and how he hadn’t meant any harm and how I was a beautiful-looking girl and if I got over this I could have anything I wanted. “There’s nothing for you here in Kilmitten,” he said.’

‘In other words, why don’t you disappear?’ Noel O’Grady. Her father was Noel O’Grady.