Angela’s Ashes: Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis

The McCourt family sails toward Moville, Ireland, from New York. They arrive after a week, and then travel to Belfast, where “Grandpa McCourt” (Malachy Sr.’s father) lives. As the family travels through the countryside, the children are delighted by the sights of cows and sheep—it’s the first time they’ve ever seen these animals in the flesh.

The family arrives at Grandpa McCourt’s house. There, he greets the family and gives them pancakes and eggs. At breakfast, Grandpa McCourt asks his son, Malachy Sr. how he intends to find work in Ireland, since conditions there are worse than in America. He suggests that Malachy Sr. go to search for work in Dublin, where there are more opportunities. The next day, the family boards a bus to Dublin.

In Dublin, Malachy Sr. goes to speak with a Mr. Heggarty, an official in the IRA (Irish Republican Army). Malachy Sr. explains that he fought for the IRA, and is entitled to some money. Heggarty claims there’s no record of Malachy’s service in this capacity. Malachy becomes angry, and demands money to buy a pint of beer. Heggarty sends him out of the building and warns him never to come back.

Malachy Sr. brings his family to a police station, where he’s forced to ask the officers if he and his family can spend the night there (this wasn’t uncommon in Ireland at the time). The police guards offer the McCourts more food, which they eagerly accept. The next day, the police officers reveal that they’ve raised enough money to send Malachy Sr. and his family to Limerick, where there should be more work. Before the family leaves, Malachy Sr. takes Frank to see the famous statue of Cuchulain that stands in the center of the town. Frank is thrilled to finally see his hero.

The McCourts travel by train to Limerick with the last of their money. In Limerick, Margaret Sheehan is waiting for them, already seeming furious with Angela and Malachy Sr. She criticizes Malachy Sr. for smoking, and Frank can see that she’s angry with her daughter for marrying him. Margaret takes the McCourts to her home, where she draws the children’s attention to a cross hanging over the fireplace. When neither Frank nor Malachy Jr. seems interested, Margaret mutters that Irish children should know about the Sacred Heart.

In the evening of their first day in Margaret Sheehan’s house, Frank begins to see how packed his new living situation is. Margaret, his grandmother, lives with Angela’s sister, Aunt Aggie. Aggie and Angela will have to sleep together, and Frank will sleep with his siblings. The next day, Margaret and Aggie take Angela to a local boardinghouse, where Aggie lives with her husband, Pa Keating—Angela and her family are to live there. Margaret pays the rent in the room, and gives Angela cutlery, pots, etc. The McCourts settle into their new home, still depending entirely on Margaret’s money. During the day, Malachy Sr. claims to go off in search of work, but he fails to find any.

The McCourts’ new home becomes infested with fleas. Malachy Sr. tries to better the problem by “beating” his mattress, but nothing works. One night, Malachy Sr. shakes Frank awake and tells him Angela is in great pain. The other McCourts wake up and realize that they’re covered in fleabites—their skin is red and bloody. One night, Malachy Sr. rushes Angela to a hospital. He comes home the next morning, saying that Angela will be all right soon. Frank overhears his Aunt Aggie saying, “The child is lost.”

A few days later, Malachy Sr. concludes that there’s no way for a man with a Northern Irish accent to find work in Limerick. He goes on unemployment benefits, and gets a measly 19 shillings a week—not even close to enough to support a family of six. To make matters worse, Malachy Sr. smokes more and more cigarettes, depriving his family of money. Even Angela smokes as well.

To get more money, Angela and her family walk to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, run by Mr. Quinlivan. Another woman there, Nora Molloy, threatens to ask the Quakers for help if the Society won't give her boots for her family, and so they give her three pairs. Angela tells Quinlivan that her daughter, Margaret McCourt, died only a few months ago, and he and the other men give her a voucher for groceries and coal. Quinlivan promises to send people to Angela’s house, where they’ll determine if Angela’s need for food is genuine, and then provide her with more money. Angela also learns from the women in Limerick which grocery stores to attend to get the most food for her money.

After this, Angela and Nora sit outside, smoking and talking. Nora Molloy reminisces about falling in love with her husband, Peter Molloy, a “boozer with the charm.” Nora coughs heavily and complains that either smoking or consumption (tuberculosis) will kill her. Nora also advises Angela to keep going to the St. Vincent de Paul society for more charity.

In the coming weeks, Angela manages to support her family by collecting charity and appealing to people’s sympathy. One day, a woman in the street gives Angela an onion and pepper—supposedly a good medicine for young children. Aunt Aggie and Pa Keating also help to support Frank and his siblings—they’re amazed that the children haven’t heard of basic things like porridge.

The chapter cuts ahead to one evening when Frank is about to go to sleep. His parents are out of the house, and Oliver is with them. Frank goes to sleep, but a few hours later, he feels his father waking him up. Malachy Sr. explains that Oliver has died of the cold. Malachy Sr. and Angela weep profusely. Malachy Sr., Pa Keating, and Frank go to the local pub. There, Frank sees his father and Pa Keating drinking “black stuff” from a glass. Malachy Sr. becomes angry when the bartender cuts him off—he yells that he “did his bit” for Ireland in 1916, and then begins weeping for Oliver once again.

The next day, Frank and his family go to the hospital, where Oliver’s body is placed in a coffin and sent to the cemetery to be buried. Angela weeps as she watches Oliver being buried. She worries aloud that Eugene—the surviving twin—will grow up strange because he misses his brother.

The next day, Malachy Sr. goes to collect his unemployment benefits, and promises to bring home groceries that afternoon. He doesn’t return until late in the evening, however, and when he returns he’s extremely drunk. Angela yells at Malachy Sr. for starving his family, and he’s too drunk to reply.

In the coming days, Angela insists that she wants to move to a new home—she can’t stand being in a flea-ridden place where her own child died. She suggests moving to a room on Windmill Street, near the local school. From now on, she goes with her husband to collect unemployment benefits—Malachy Sr. doesn’t like this, since it limits his “drinking money,” but because he’s been feeling guilty, he doesn’t stop her. Angela begins to save more money. She’s able to move her family to a new apartment room by promising to pay the rent soon.

Frank and his siblings begin going to school. School is a terrifying place—Frank is bullied for sounding like a “Yank,” and when he protests, the schoolmaster, Mr. O’Dea, beats him with a cane. Frank learns that O’Dea hates the English with a special passion.

In the coming weeks, Malachy Jr. and Frank try to play with Eugene. Eugene was very close with Oliver, and misses his brother terribly. He never laughs, and barely eats. Six months after Oliver’s death, Eugene dies of pneumonia. The doctor points out that the McCourts have chest problems, and need to be careful to keep warm and dry. Angela is devastated by the loss of another child—she sleeps for longer hours, and often can’t force herself to get out of bed. Malachy Sr. retreats to the pubs, just as he did when Oliver died. Eventually, Margaret Sheehan has to convince Angela to get out of bed in the morning. Margaret explains that Angela is still a mother—she has living children to take care of.

At Eugene’s funeral, all of Frank’s family is in attendance, including aunts and uncles he’s never met before. Malachy Sr. shows up drunk for the funeral. Margaret is furious with him, and she hisses that his own child deserves his dignity.

After Eugene’s funeral, Frank’s life changes. He sleeps with Malachy Jr. in Eugene’s old bed, and thinks about how cold Eugene must be, buried in the ground.