Jimmy's Hall Page #4

them in their hedge schools,

risking their very lives.

Oh, how they must

turn in their graves

to see our youths debase themselves

in Jimmy Gralton's hall.

Jazz music.

Rhythms from darkest Africa

that inflame the passions.

Pelvic thrusts and

salacious body grappling,

instead of the elegance and

beauty of our own Irish dances.

And then, of course, we have company

keeping under the stars at night.

Joy-riding until dawn...

with unsuitables on the prowl from

distant parts in their motor cars.

Occasions of sin multiplied

beyond our imagination.

But there is something even

more evil hatching in that hall.

Gralton and his crew...

are communists.

They are atheists.

They deny the existence

of God, the Trinity

and the Virgin birth.

So, our community faces a choice.

Is it Christ... or is it Gralton?

Now, the Church has a right,

and even a duty,

to protect the vulnerable.

So what I do now, I do in

the spirit of God's love.

I will now read out the

names of those people

who attended Gralton's

Hall last night.

And other priests in other

parishes will be doing the same.

And here are the names.

Amy Gilligan.

Deirdre Kearns.

Johng Conlon.

Mrs Oonagh Mulvey.

Niamh Kearns.

Emma Duggan.

Mrs Teresa Hanrahan.

Margaret Carty.

David O'Reilly.

Paul O'Brian.

Marie O'Keefe,

joy-riding with unsuitables.

Kieran Brennan.

Eoghan O'Neill.

Sarah Conlon.

Rory O'Dowd.

Eoin O'Neill.

Christian Pindar.

Darragh O'Malley.

- Get the girls inside.

- Calm down.

Take the girls inside.

Get out, you.

- Don't you hurt her.

- Take them inside.

Smirking at the priest.

Humiliating the family name. Come on.

- Don't you hurt her.

- Take them inside!

Get in there.

Take off your jacket.

Take off your jacket.

Take off your jacket!

Stay away from Gralton's Hall!

You hear me?

Do you hear me?

Stay away from Gralton's Hall!

Stay away from it! Hear?

You want some more? Do ya?

Do you want some more? Do ya?

Promise me! Stay away from it!

Promise me that! Stay away from it!

Do you want some more? Do ya?

You had time to think long

and hard in prison, Mossie.

You don't want to end up on the

wrong side of history again, no?

An embittered old man with

not a penny to your name.

You've so much to live for.

You've got a lovely spouse.

Isn't that right, Angela?

And I could get you a job

for life in the Council.

Watch your children grow

up in security. Educated.

You're at a crossroads, Mossie.

Listen to me. You could even get

little Katie back from Scotland. Hmm?

- Would you like a scone, Father?

- Thank you. Thank you, Angela.

Here's a picture of our little Katie.

Oh, isn't she a dote?

- Beautiful little girl.

- Just like her mammy.

- Thank you, Father.

- You must miss her terribly.

Very, very much.

Oh, we have the Redemptorist Fathers

coming to the parish for a mission.

What if I was to bring around a

doctor of divinity into your house,

to explain to you where

Gralton is leading you astray?

What if I was to bring a doctor of

economics round to your house, Father,

and explain to you where

you're going astray?

Loyalty is a noble thing,

but misplaced loyalty, for a man

with children, is a tragedy.

One, two, three, four,

five, six, seven, eight.

One, two, three, four,

five, six, seven, eight.

One, two, three, four,

five, six, seven.

Shim, sham.

Hop over, and shim, sham.

And hop over and shim, sham.

And hop over and... hop over and...

Hop stop. And one, two, three...

Marie!

I'm sorry I'm late. I...

I couldn't get on my bike.

- What's wrong?

- I'm sorry.

- It's OK.

- Marie, what's the matter?

- I couldn't get on my bike.

- What's wrong? What's wrong?

I didn't want to miss the class.

- Marie...

- There's no worries.

Jimmy, get her a chair. Marie,

what happened to your back?

Come on, have a seat.

What's the matter?

"Lay the lash upon their backs."

That's what the Bishop of Galway said.

They make the blood boil, these

hooligans with a cross in their hand.

Closing in like hounds. There's talks

of bringing in the Redemptorists

to preach fire and

thunder for a week.

Father Sheridan came to the shop.

He said... he said he'd

organise a boycott.

- What?

- It's your livelihood.

- He could ruin us.

- What did Brendan say?

He doesn't want me

coming here anymore.

I'm so sorry, but I can't

teach the classes any more.

I'm sorry.

He's after being in the houses

of most of the lads we know.

It's starting to happen

in other parishes.

They're all doing the same thing.

Father Sheridan came

up to see my father,

with the Knights of Saint Columbanus.

They were scheming away.

And they'll have your da and

the fascists on one side,

and the bloody Dohertys

of this world on the other.

At a safe, deniable

distance, you know.

At each other's throats, but only

united by a mutual hatred of us.

We've still got lots

of support out there.

People are stopping me all the time.

And, listen, half those lads in

Fianna Fil, they think he's a fanatic.

Spit licks who will genuflect

when the time comes.

They're good lads, Sean. And some

of 'em were at the dance here.

My old brigade, most of them.

And the unemployed

movement, they're with us.

Lots of the parents,

they're still solid...

For how long, Tommy?

He called us antichrists!

Look, we need to see it from

his point of view. Right?

We're in his parish,

so he must confront us.

And his fellow priests, bishops

and the entire Catholic community

are all watching him,

so there's pressure on him too.

So we have to get him off our backs,

without him losing face

before his supporters.

What if... What if we ask the Reverend

Father to be on our board of trustees?

Jesus.

We can't be antichrists then.

We've always said everyone's welcome.

If it continues like this, you know,

we'll have an empty hall.

I feel for the lads. There's nothing

for them after all this work.

I'm becoming fed up of being a

pragmatist in church, you know.

Here's this young girl beside me,

she's been beaten because of them,

and she shows up here the next day.

We have to be very careful.

Those people don't just join.

They come to take over.

Holy Moses.

- No, it's only me.

- What do you want?

I've come to get me devil's horns

put on. Is Father Sheridan in?

He is. Come in.

Well, I'll be damned.

Don't lose hope, Father.

There's still time to repent.

Oh, is that so? Well, as you're here,

you might as well come in.

We want to invite you to join our

board of trustees who run the hall.

I'm hopeful that once you come along and

see what we're doing with your own eyes,

we can put all this behind us.

So, I am to be the odd man out among

your, er, hand-picked comrades.

And no doubt when it comes

to choosing reading material,

- there'll be... There'll be a vote?

- Can you not at least...

No, it's a gracious

offering, Mr Gralton.

At a time when a

quarter of the country

is planning to travel to Dublin

for the Eucharistic Congress,

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