Eileen Furlong: The Pragmatic Conscience in Small Things Like These

Overview and Role in the Plot

Eileen Furlong is the wife of protagonist Bill Furlong and mother of their five daughters in Small Things Like These. As the manager of the household and the family’s financial stability, she embodies the voice of pragmatic self-preservation. When Bill stumbles upon the abuse of girls in the local convent, Eileen urges him to ignore it to protect their hard-won middle-class life. Her role grounds the novel in everyday realities of 1980s Ireland—economic recession, social hierarchy, and the fear of losing everything. She stands as the primary obstacle to Bill’s moral awakening, yet her motivations are deeply human: she wants to keep her daughters safe and the family solvent. Her character forces readers to confront the tension between ethical ideals and the costs of acting on them.

Motivations and Traits Through Actions

Eileen’s central motivation is protecting her family from the precarity she sees everywhere. In chapter 5, when Bill tells her about the girl polishing the floor in the convent chapel, Eileen responds sharply: “such things had nothing to do with them” and “there’s things you have to ignore, so you can keep on.” She points out that the nuns always pay their bills on time, unlike others who would “put everything on the slate until you had to put the squeeze on.” This reveals her pragmatic calculation: the convent is a reliable customer, and challenging them risks economic harm.

Her hard work and thrift are evident. In chapter 4, she is ironing late into the night, baking the Christmas cake, and saving “something away into the Credit Union every week.” She dreams of new windows to stop the draught, and she insists on stretching gift money as far as possible. She is also perceptive—she notices when Bill is “miles away” and guesses he has been thinking about his past at Wilson’s. Her reading of local news shows she is plugged into the community’s gossip and knows the power structures.

Eileen’s comment in chapter 5 that Bill was “far from any hardship” stings him because it implies his upbringing was privileged compared to the convent girls’. Yet she immediately softens and apologises: “I’d no call to say that to you, Bill.” This moment shows her self-awareness and underlying affection. She is not cruel; she is terrified.

Chronological Arc

Eileen appears early in chapter 3, where she questions Bill giving money to Mick Sinnott’s boy. She says “some bring the hardship on themselves,” embodying a common class judgment. Over the course of the novel, her position hardens. In chapter 5, after Bill describes the polishing girl, Eileen’s speech is her longest—she lists reasons to stay out of it: the girls “need a fire,” the nuns pay on time, and their own five daughters are “well and minded.” Her words create the central marital conflict. A key line is “if you want to get on in life, there’s things you have to ignore.”

In chapter 7, Eileen is absent from the action but spiritually present. Bill buys her patent leather shoes and thinks of her waiting for midnight Mass while he walks toward the convent. He knows she will worry and likely disapprove. The novel ends with Bill climbing the hill toward home, Sarah Redmond beside him, hoping “they would manage.” We do not see Eileen’s face, leaving a deliberate ambiguity: will she accept the girl or reject them both? This open end underscores that her pragmatism remains a force to be reckoned with.

Relationships

With Bill: A partnership built on love and shared struggle, but an ideological rift opens. Eileen respects Bill’s labour—she tells him “we’ve not a penny owing, and that’s down to you”—but she cannot understand his need to risk their stability for a stranger. Their arguments are quiet but loaded; Bill feels she has a “hot power of her gaze” and wishes he had her pragmatic mind.
With their daughters: Eileen is the daily disciplinarian and organiser. She enforces bedtimes, reviews Christmas wish lists, and prioritises their education at St. Margaret’s. She is fiercely protective and sees the nuns’ institution partly as a threat: “there’s nothing only a wall separating that place from St Margaret’s.” Her maternal love is the root of her caution.
With the community: Eileen participates in local networks—she hears news from the Square and shops in Waterford. She knows the barber’s son’s cancer diagnosis and the undertaker’s engagement. This social embeddedness means she understands the cost of offending the nuns, who “have a finger in every pie.”

Key Decisions and Consequences

Eileen’s main decision is to urge Bill not to intervene. The consequence is marital strain and her own moral compromise. Bill ultimately ignores her and retrieves Sarah, risking their reputation and livelihood. The narrative sides with Bill’s courage, but Eileen’s fear is credible. She represents the silent majority who enabled the Magdalene system through inaction. Her decision to keep saving and planning for her family’s future maintains their comfort, but at the expense of her husband’s peace of mind.

Interpretation: Eileen is not a villain. She is a product of her society—a woman who has scraped out a decent life and knows how quickly it can vanish. Her tragedy is that her love for her own children blinds her to the suffering of others. Keegan uses her to illustrate the theme of silence and complicity: the everyday choices that let injustice thrive.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Silence and Complicity: Eileen explicitly advises Bill to ignore what he saw. Her line “there’s things you have to ignore, so you can keep on” is the novel’s most direct articulation of this theme.
Class and Economic Hardship: Eileen’s fear of falling is constant. She remembers the shipyard closure, the redundancies at Albatros, and the post-office queues. She sees the convent as a pillar of the economy, not a site of abuse. This connects to the theme of class and economic hardship.
Hypocrisy vs Ideals: The epigraph of the 1916 Proclamation promises to “cherish all the children of the nation equally.” Eileen’s prioritisation of her own children over the convent girls exposes the gap between national ideals and personal practice. See also hypocrisy vs ideals.
Moral Courage: Eileen’s caution sets up Bill’s final act of moral courage. She represents the conventional path he must break from.
Family and Legacy: Eileen’s efforts are all directed toward securing her daughters’ future. She wants them educated and married well. Yet her narrow definition of “family” excludes the vulnerable. This theme is explored further in family and legacy.

5 Book-Specific Questions and Answers

Why does Eileen tell Bill to ignore what he saw at the convent?
She believes that interfering would jeopardise their family’s security. The nuns are reliable customers who always pay on time, and the local economy is fragile. She also views the convent girls as “trouble” that has nothing to do with them.
How does Eileen’s background differ from Bill’s?
Bill was raised by a single mother in the Wilson household, a relatively comfortable, refined environment. Eileen’s family appears to have been ordinary working-class; she collected ornaments that looked “cheap” to Bill. She didn’t experience the same privilege, which may fuel her fear of falling.
What does Eileen’s reaction reveal about Irish society in the 1980s?
It shows how ordinary people enabled the Magdalen system through willful ignorance and economic dependence on the Church. Her comment “those were put in there because they hadn’t a soul” reflects a common stigma against unwed mothers and the poor.
Why does Eileen apologise after her harsh comment to Bill?
She says Bill was “far from any hardship” and that “wasn’t it a good job Mrs Wilson didn’t share your ideas.” After a pause, she confesses she “had no call to say that.” This shows her love for Bill—she knows she crossed a line—and her regret at using his origins as a weapon.
How does Eileen’s view of the Sinnott family show her pragmatism?
When Bill gives money to Mick Sinnott’s foraging son, Eileen says “some bring the hardship on themselves” and blames the father’s drinking. She focuses on personal responsibility rather than systemic poverty, reserving her charity for her own household.

For further exploration, read the ending explained and see other questions and answers. Return to the main book page.