In The Secret Scripture, the dictator de Valera repressed the
Irish people during the crucial years he was Taoiseach from 1932 – 48. Women,
in particular, were repressed sexually.
Roseanne Clear, a patient in Roscommon Mental Hospital, is a centenarian and Dr
Grene, her Psychiatrist, must assess her prior to the demolition of the
hospital. Roseanne writes her life story and hides it under a loose floor board
in her room. Roseanne, a native of Sligo, imparts the awful incident at the
graveyard, when Willie Lavelle died and Roseanne was accused of alerting the Free State soldiers who
arrested his brother John. Fr. Gaunt was called and Roseanne’s father lost his
job at the graveyard. Roseanne’s father was a marked man.
The documentary evidence from Sligo Mental Hospital
(The Leitrim Hotel) contradicted Fr. Aloysius Mary Gaunt’s written testimonial
which ensured Roseanne’s committal to Sligo in
1941. Roseanne, a Presbyterian, was targeted by this bigot at every turn. Ireland, the
Peat Rick (James Joyce) was where ‘Church and Caesar ruled hand in hand’ (also
James Joyce). Life was intolerable for a Godless person.
Roseanne lived through the turmoil of the
War of Independence, the Civil War and the period when de Valera, who
suppressed those who rejected him and the anti-Treaty forces, took power. de
Valera’s parentage was uncertain so that he adopted the clergy to monitor the
people. Fr. Gaunt, a zealot, whose sanity would describe a normal person
insane, epitomised the clergy who abused others most cruelly.
Roseanne was not forthcoming under Dr
Grene’s questioning. The written word clarifies all. Dr Grene reads the
complete story and discovers she has a son. Fr. Gaunt was instrumental in
ratting on Roseanne’s meeting with John Lavelle shortly after she married Tom
McNulty. The mere hint of impropriety determined guilt. Roseanne’s mother died
in Sligo Mental Hospital in 1941. Roseanne’s
marriage was annulled. Roseanne gave birth to a son on Coney Island in May 1941,
Eneas McNulty, fleeing the Belfast
bombings was the father.
Roseanne was watched over by John Lavelle’s
son who was the Roscommon
Mental Hospital orderly.
Roseanne was a rare, good hearted beauty.
Her son long lost to her, was reunited and reconciled. Was she told?