The Country Funeral

by John McGahern

Faber Stories, a landmark series of individual volumes, presents masters of the short story form at work in a range of genres and styles. 'My only concern', John McGahern once said, 'is that I get the sentence right and describe my world clearly and deeply.''The Country Funeral' witnesses three brothers, John, Philly and Fonsie Ryan, as they travel west from Dublin to Gloria Bog - the heart of the territory where so many of McGahern's stories take place - to attend the funeral of their uncle. Depicting the customs and rituals of the day, McGahern exquisitely traces how the brothers react to the area in unexpected and tender ways, and face their own feelings about the transience of life.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Ireland, Irish Literature, Literary Fiction

61 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 7, 2019

About the author

McGahern began his career as a schoolteacher at Scoil Eoin Báiste (Belgrove) primary school in Clontarf, Ireland, where, for a period, he taught the eminent academic Declan Kiberd before turning to writing full-time. McGahern's second novel 'The Dark' was banned in Ireland for its alleged pornographic content and implied clerical sexual abuse. In the controversy over this he was forced to resign his teaching post. He subsequently moved to England where he worked in a variety of jobs before returning to Ireland to live and work on a small farm in Fenagh in County Leitrim, located halfway between Ballinamore and Mohill. His third novel 'Amongst Women' was shortlisted for the 1990 Man Booker Prize.
He died from cancer in Dublin on March 30, 2006.

Reviews

[JimZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very good read. John McGahern was a wonderful Irish author (1934-2006). I was introduced to him more than 20 years ago when I read a book review column and the reviewer looked at 3 books and as I recall he portrayed them as long lost treasures: The Barracks by McGahern (1964), winner of the Macauley Fellowship award; Langrishe Go Down (1966, winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize) by Aidan Higgins (1927-2015); and The Ocean (1941) by John Hanley (1897-1985). I was impressed with the review, so I ended up procuring all three books (and I still have them of course), and I read all three, and by golly the reviewer was right…I liked them all very much.

In this short story 3 brothers, Fonsie, Philly, and John, converge on Gloria Bog, an area populated by, you guessed it, bogs, to bury their uncle Peter. Fonsie is confined to a wheelchair and has been since he was either born or a little wee lad. He lives with his mother. John is a teacher living in the vicinity. Philly works on oil rigs in Bahrain. Fonsie and Philly appear to have a love-hate relationship and it’s fascinating how that plays out in the story.

This is part of the Faber 90 series, “a landmark series of gem-like volumes, presents masters of the short-story form at work in a range of genres and styles.” This was done to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the publishing house, Faber and Faber Limited. The other short stories can be found here— https://www.faber.co.uk/blog/faber-90... — and I have to tell you, of the four others I’ve read, there hasn’t been a loser amongst ‘em. 😊 (Oh actually there is one more of the 20 stories that is not in that link: 'Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom' by Sylvia Plath.)

There were some passages that just were awesome, but for me to write them down here…. they have to be taken in the context in which they were written for one to appreciate the writing to its fullest. I recommend this short story without reservation. 😊

I have his short story collection from which this was taken…so I need to dip into it every now and then. 😊

Note:
• McGahern was forced out of his job after his second novel, The Dark, caused a sensation when it appeared in 1965. The story of a teenage boy and the anxiety he experiences about his suitability for the priesthood, the novel mentioned masturbation and hinted of a possible sexual advance by a member of the clergy. The Roman Catholic authorities in Ireland condemned McGahern's novel, and it was even banned for a time by the Irish Censorship Board. He refused to comment publicly on the fracas, saying only years later that "by protesting I would give them too much honor," the Los Angeles Times quoted him as saying. "Besides, a book has a life of its own. Once it is written, it belongs to its readers." Taken from: https://www.notablebiographies.com/ne...
• Actually here is one quote attributed to McGahern: “My only concern is I get the sentence right and describe my world clearly and deeply.”

Review
(This reviewer did not like it. Fiddlesticks to him! 😑) https://samquixote.blogspot.com/2020/...

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just the title - The Country Funeral - tells you everything. This is a dour, slow, miserable story where fun, imagination and anything you like about fiction goes to die! It’s not even the subject matter. John McGahern’s “fiction” is like reading a nonfiction article on what a funeral is like - that’s the level of entertainment on offer here.

Three Irish brothers go to bury their dead uncle. What do you think happens at a funeral/wake? People put on dark clothes, bow their heads, say nice things about the deceased, and have a few drinks and things to eat. That’s exactly what the non-characters do here. So. What.

Where’s the story? What’s the point? Does McGahern have anything to say or is he just describing a relative’s funeral and trying to pass it off as fiction by changing the names? And what bland “characters” - I couldn’t tell any of them apart aside from that one of them was in a wheelchair.

The Country Funeral is one of the dullest, most coma-rific stories I’ve ever read - prose that’s DOA!

[Marcus Hobson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading ‘The Country Funeral’ made me reflect on how we read. Sometimes we can read lightly, only partially engaged in the story, floating over the top of it. At other times we can let the characters and the descriptions seep into our minds and dwell there, raising memories and half remembered images, reminding us of times and places. Seeing deeply into the characters, more deeply even that the words on the page. This story is one of those with real depth, that demand the fullest attention.

My reading of this story changed part way through. At first, I wasn’t fully engaged with the story of three brothers, John, Philly and Fonsie Ryan, who travel together to the West Coast of Ireland to the funeral of their Uncle Peter. Peter’s home was a small cottage on the edge of a bog, the place they travelled to with their mother to spend every childhood summer in their uncle’s house. The brothers are very different to each other.
We find them first in the city. Fonsie is in wheelchair “With his large head and trunk, he sometimes looked like a circus dwarf. The legless trousers were sewn up below the hips.” We never know how he lost his legs, but he is constantly bitter, always picking a verbal fight with his brothers.
John is a school teacher, and the peacemaker between the three boys. “At school he had been a brilliant student, winning scholarships with ease all the way to university; but as soon as he graduated he disappeared into teaching. He was still teaching the same subjects in the same school where he had started, and appeared to dislike his work intensely though he was considered on of the best teachers in the school.”
One short passage captures John perfectly; “Their mother complained that his wife ran his whole life – she had been a nurse before they married – but others were less certain. They felt he encouraged her innate bossiness so that he could the better shelter unbothered behind it like a deep hedge.”
Philly has come home on vacation. He works in the Saudi Arabian oil fields and when he returns home he splashes around the money he has earned, bringing gifts for the family and buying countless rounds of drinks in the pub. Fonsie seems to resent him for it, as if he is trying to buy friends.
While Philly is home, news arrives of the passing of Uncle Peter and the three brothers are dispatched to attend the funeral. Their mother is too unwell to travel. The return to the place of their childhood summers brings with it countless memories, few of them pleasant. As the only close family to the dead man, the boys have to go through the whole complex ritual that surrounds the death and funeral. Visitors come to the house and visit the body laid out on the bed. They need to be given food and drink, which continues through the night. Some come to attend the removal of the body from the house, others come to the church service, others to the burial. “I’m sorry for your trouble” is the phrase often repeated by friends and neighbours.

The house that belonged to Uncle Peter was on the edge of a bog. It is a bleak piece of featureless land, or is it? Listening to some of the description in this story it is also possible to see it in quite a different way, as a place of beauty. At one point, Philly stops the car on the drive home to admire the vast red sunset across the flat landscape. The sedge looks like gold. He can also see himself living there, as his uncle did before him, peacefully, in this featureless landscape.

The story is tight and insular, little really happens but much is said and argued over. There are a richness of voices and opinions that make this a wonderful story. Although I have said a good deal, there is so much more to enjoy when reading the full account.

[Rob Keenan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A touching little portrait of an Irish funeral. The organisation and description of the wake had me back in my grandad's house in Finglas shaking the hands of faces I didn't recognise and drinking whiskeys in memory.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Characters, dynamics, dialogue, settings, the set meal at the funeral (‘hot vegetable soup, lamb chops with turnip and roast potatoes and peas, apple tart and ice cream, tea or coffee’) just pitch bloody perfect. And then blinders like, ‘The colour of laughter is black. How dark is the end of all life. Yet others carried the burden in the bright day on the hill. His shoulders shuddered slightly in revulsion and he wished himself back in the semi-detached suburbs with rosebeds outside in the garden.’

[aloose]

I am on a mission to read as many Irish writers as my mind can handle in my four months in Dublin, so I picked this up for less than a fiver (new). Can't be mad. McGahern was a name on my list of "must reads" because of this article "https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2024..." from the NYRofB. I can sense the great reflective power in his character studies in this story, but it feels quite trivial and more like a journal entry here rather than some grand and enthralling story. Will be reading either "The Dark" or "Amongst Women" very soon, but I must complete the Beckett first.

[Grammarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man bekommt was der Titel verspricht, eine Beerdigung auf dem Land. Die drei brüder John, Philly und Fonsie sind mit der Mutter die letzten angehörigen ihres Onkel Peter, da die Mutter schon zu alt ist, ist es der Job von den Brüdern den Onkel ordentlich zu bestatten.
Es ist eine ruhige Kurzgeschichte die durch den Erzählstil wunderbar entschleunigt. Jeder der brüder trauert anders, hat andere Erinnerungen andere Trauermechanismen.

[eleanor · Rating 2 out of 5]

the one where they get drunk & then their uncle dies so they reluctantly go to the funeral, revisiting the bog they frequented in childhood

ummm i didn't like this one- and tbh i think it may have been that the 3 main characters were all really annoying men who did anything to belittle the women they met. just not really a vibe grrr

[vamann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not that great of story, found it quite dull. The characters were uninteresting besides the guy in the wheelchair. Nonetheless, at least the prose was good.

[Mr Norton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Upon the death of their elderly uncle, Peter McDermott, it falls on three middle aged brothers, Philly, Fonsie and John Ryan, to return to where they spent their childhood summers in Gloria, County Roscommon, to represent their mother at his funeral. Their mother, sister of the deceased and now the only surviving family member of five offspring, cannot attend. But she insists they do so, for ‘If nobody went to poor Peter’s funeral, God rest him, we’d be the talk of the countryside for years. If I know nothing else in the world I know what they’re like down there.’

And so the three brothers set off from Dublin on a car journey together, in the flash Mercedes hired by Philly. He is the ‘successful’ one, working on oil rigs and cyclically returning home, flush and lost in equal measure. Together with the quietest of the brothers, John, an unhappy school teacher, and the grouchiest of them, the wheelchair bound Fonsie, Philly leads the way back to the obviously not randomly chosen in terms of name, Gloria.

Of his novel Ulysses, James Joyce said that if Dublin ‘one day suddenly disappeared from the Earth, it could be reconstructed out of my book’. If ever the obligations, rituals and rhythms of an Irish country funeral suddenly disappeared, a reader would need to look no further than this novella. McGahern is meticulous in his delineation of both the ordinary and the extraordinary, the comically banal and the deeply profound. And of where these two meet.

We witness the buying of ludicrous amounts of food and drink for the wake; pragmatic-bordering-on-unethical advice from a family solicitor; a priest speeding to the burial for which he is late, and having to rush up a hill after the coffin ‘like an enormous black-and-white crab'. But we also witness a house where the clocks have been silenced; a bedroom where a corpse is never left on its own; a living room where, in the dark stillness of night, a middle aged man is captivated by the matchstick farm animals so delicately crafted by his once so gruff and intimidating uncle. The moment is a concise evocation of the strange space often inhabited post bereavement, where ambivalent personal feeling balances itself alongside the respect that is due.

While some minor fraternal conflict does emerge, The Country Funeral will disappoint those readers in search of dramatic openings of old wounds. Perhaps another writer would wish to explore climactic set pieces triggered by the novella’s central event. But McGahern wishes instead here to simply bear witness as truthfully as possible. Each brother does indeed have his own private vulnerabilities, but we encounter these in moments that are palpable, but not dwelt upon. McGahern clearly forces himself (and the reader) to follow the same country code of his mourners; he declines to intrude. It is typical of his restraint and a masterstroke.

The whole book could be read as banal; the whole book could be read as profound: that is the gentle, effective and perhaps challenging genius of John McGahern.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story, originally published in 1992, features three Irish brothers who travel back to their mother's childhood home for their uncle's funeral. I tend to like morbid tales that brush against death, and indeed the brothers' reactions to the loss of their uncle are complex and compelling. The best aspect, in my opinion, is that the change in perspective that each brother undergoes throughout the course of this story also runs parallel to shifting power dynamics between the siblings.

The downside (depending on the sort of reader that you are) is that this story is largely a character study and thus has very little plot. While I did find each of the brothers interesting and enjoyed seeing their late uncle through the snippets of dialogue they share amongst themselves and the other mourners, I must admit that there were moments of boredom for me. I do tend to like character studies and don't often need much plot, but following them through the planning and hosting of this funeral just wasn't quite enough of a hook for me.

[CAG_1337 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, and McGahern does a good job crafting distinct, believable characterizations for the three brothers in the story, but he really only skims the surface. There was much room, even in this short work, for a deeper exploration of the complex psychologies lurking beneath, but in the end, all we are left with is just garden variety sibling rivalry and bickering set against the backdrop of rural Ireland and its social and funerary customs.

[Contrary Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was like hearing my Grandmother talk- and I suspect it has given me an insight into a byegone world in which my long dead Grandfather would have resided. Loved this pastoral, and the gently sweeping humour expressed in this morose of traditions. I learned more about how people lived than they die

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was kind fun. Basically a souvenir from Dublin, I’d never read anything by McGahern before. The story of the Ryan brothers trip to bury their uncle is sweet without being too sentimental. I want to read more by McGahern.

[Amélie Brouillard · Rating 3 out of 5]

yep, i guess i like to see different perspectives of the same story and what people involved make of it.

[Lee Peckover · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short narrative but written with poignancy and subtle moments of wistful descriptions of a bygone era. A moment, a lifetime.

[YX · Rating 4 out of 5]

About Gold Watch.
This article talks about the missing capability to love. The son and the father do not love each other. They may want to but they do not. The father poisoned the watch to break it, the son took the gold watch away almost by forcing it. The Gold Watch was the symbol of controlling for the father and that's what he cares about. The misses the control he had over his son but doesn't accept the fact that the son can choose what life he wants to live. So he hired a contractor to cut hay yet never notified the son that the work was finished. He just wanted him to come and see that they can live without him. The son isn't doing much better either. He just goes back to cut hay everyyear to do the bare minimum to show that he hasn't forgot about the old house.
Intricate yet subtle narrative of the story portraited a real yet common impairment of modern life.

[Maltheus Broman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Family tensions and funerals – McGahern can write these things like no one else. Between the three brothers who come together to attend a funeral evolves an uncertain momentum. None of them can tell where it pushes them. All of them have different ideas in regards of fulfilling their duties, paying their respects, and taking decisions which a death in the family requires. From a literary perspective The Country Funeral is not so much an event-driven short story than it is a relation-centred novelette about siblings dealing with their past. In terms of length, the wake is described in all details, while in contrast the actual burial is quite a let-down.

An intense read all the way through!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It’s terrible when you’re young to come into a place where you know you’re not wanted … there’s nothing more empty than a space you knew once when it was full.”

This was a deceivingly profound and well-observed character study that really captures the unique, almost intangible essence of Irish family dynamics.

Especially given the low page count, the three brothers were well-characterised and the distinct ways in which each of them reacts to the people and scenarios before was very compelling.

I enjoyed the juxtaposition of tradition and modernity as well as the friction caused by the conflicting ways in which each of the three brothers choose to remember their late uncle.

Not a page was wasted and this may well be my all-time favourite McGahern work.

[Lindsey Mazur · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was definitely not for me.

Some of the writing was nice...

"I was only thinking that a lot of life never changes. If the rich could get the poor to die for them the rich would never die."

"A man is born. He dies. Where he himself stood now on the path between those two points could not be known."

But overall, I thought the story fell so flat. Three brothers attend a funeral of their uncle. It offered no more, no less. I will say it was a nice illustration of the different ways people handle burying grudges (no pun intended) and tapping into greater perspective on the brevity of life. But mostly, I was ready to move on from this story as quickly as I started it.

And sweet Jesus, did I get so sick of Fonsie by the end. The most stubborn man child.

[Simon Howard · Rating 2 out of 5]

79 pages in which three brothers travel from their modern lives in Dublin to rural Ireland to attend an uncle's funeral. There were passages in this book which did a decent job of capturing some of the comlpexity of the conflicting emotions associated with funerals, and the way in which different people respond differently. But I didn't really feel particularly drawn in by this short story as a whole.

[Theodoulos Hadjimatheou · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐ s

The Country Funeral is a subtle, contemplative piece that captures the emotional undercurrents of returning home, familial obligation, and unspoken grief. The story’s strength lies in its atmospheric writing (Irish authors never disappoint on that front) and the restrained way it portrays memory and tradition in rural life. There’s beauty in its quiet moments and an authenticity in its characters’ interactions.

[Joseph Whelan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story, I have only recently discovered John Mcgahern, what a fantastic story teller. His characters are so vivid and colourful, he describes them so well that you almost feel as if you've known them all your life. The book paints a very true picture of the importance of the funeral in the culture of rural Ireland.

[Ivan Monckton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, but not enough to make me want to search out other books by the author.
As an aside, as there is no option to edit listings, I would point out this book has 79 numbered pages plus 13 blank pages at end. It is not, therefore, 96 pages by any definition...

[Broganne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I made the wrong move reading this so close to Christmas!! It’s very cleverly written, and it definitely makes you think but I just felt a little more background on Fonzie would’ve helped me engage with this read a bit more.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant writing and imagery

[Anetamary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is quite unique

[Joe Imwalle · Rating 5 out of 5]

an excellent well crafted short story.

[50andsomething · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three very different brothers attend their uncle's funeral, even though they haven't seen him for many years, and had mixed memories of him.

[Alastair Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three brothers travel to their families old home for their Uncle's funeral, a unique look at the Irish humour, family dynamics and loss.