Going to Maynooth: Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry, The Works of William Carleton, Volume Three

In Short

This narrative follows the ascent of Denis O’Shaughnessy, a local youth whose pedantic, overbearing, and self-important nature convinces his family that he is destined for the priesthood at Maynooth. While his neighbors revere his scraps of Latin and performative gravity, Denis is simultaneously caught in a genuine, tender, and forbidden romance with a village girl named Susan Connor. Through its satirical look at the social prestige of the nineteenth-century Irish clergy and the domestic realities of peasant life, the book remains a poignant study of ambition, hypocrisy, and the conflict between rigid social expectations and the heart.

The Story

Denis O’Shaughnessy, the son of a modest farmer, distinguishes himself early through a mix of arrogance and a precocious ability to argue in pseudo-intellectual riddles. His father, old Denis, sees in his son a future of immense social standing and prosperity, believing that "Dionysius"—as the son demands to be called—will bring status to their household. The preparation for Maynooth involves a heavy investment of time, money, and village favors. Denis adopts a veneer of "learned" superiority, lecturing his family and neighbors on everything from theology to the mechanics of a watch. However, beneath this comedic posturing lies a genuine, clandestine affection for Susan Connor, a girl whose sincerity provides a sharp contrast to his own affected manner.

As the day of his examination before the bishop approaches, Denis finds himself in a crisis. He realizes that his path toward the priesthood requires him to abandon his earthly attachments, yet he cannot fully sever his ties with Susan. During a tense interview with the local bishop, Denis’s true character is tested. Through a series of misunderstandings and political maneuvering involving the local parish priest, Father Finnerty, the bishop discovers that Denis has been involved in questionable dealings—specifically, the gifting of a prized horse in hopes of securing his admission. The bishop, unimpressed by the young man's affectations and the clerical corruption surrounding him, ultimately denies Denis his entry into Maynooth.

The news of the rejection devastates the O’Shaughnessy family, who had built their entire identity around the upcoming ordination. Yet, this failure marks a turning point for the protagonist. Stripped of his "semi-clerical" status and his pompous ambitions, Denis finally confronts his own nature. He seeks out Susan, not with the performative rhetoric of a budding scholar, but with the raw honesty of a man who has lost his way. Despite the initial violent intervention of Susan’s father, who is furious at the suffering Denis has caused, the conflict eventually resolves. The book concludes with the transition from the stifling weight of priestly expectation to a more grounded, communal life. Denis casts off his pedantry, and the story shifts to the celebration of a wedding, marking his departure from the path of the "learned vagabond" and his return to a genuine, if less exalted, existence among his own people.

How It Unfolds

The walking pigeon-house The story opens by establishing the absurdity of the O’Shaughnessy household, where Denis’s father is a man of rigid, motionless posture and his son is a precocious, pedantic youth who bullies the family with his "learning." The neighbors view this arrogance as a sign of future holiness, convinced that the young man’s inability to speak plainly is a symptom of deep, hidden wisdom.

The theological debate Denis demonstrates his rhetorical prowess by bamboozling the local men with circular, nonsense logic that he presents as divine truth. These scenes highlight the immense, almost superstitious influence the priesthood holds over the community, as even the most nonsensical words are accepted as profound simply because they come from a candidate for the mission.

The forbidden courtship The narrative shifts to the glen where Denis secretly meets Susan Connor, creating a jarring juxtaposition between his inflated, Latin-laced courtship and her simple, pained sincerity. Here, the reader sees the cost of his ambition; he treats his genuine feelings as a "philosophical experiment" while Susan suffers from the social and spiritual weight of their secret.

The bishop’s test When the day of judgment arrives, the political machinations of the parish clergy are laid bare in the bishop’s presence. The bishop effectively exposes the corruption underlying Denis’s candidacy, delivering a stinging rebuke to both the young man and the priests who sought to advance him through patronage.

The return to the soil The final movement follows the collapse of Denis’s ecclesiastical dreams, which forces him to shed his identity as a "gentleman." He is eventually reunited with Susan, and the pedantic young man finally earns his place in the community by admitting his own humanity.

The People

Denis O’Shaughnessy A man driven by a desperate need for social elevation and the illusion of intellectual superiority. He wants to be a priest to gain status, but he is fundamentally human and emotionally attached to the life he claims to despise. He ends the story humbled, having lost his position but gained his integrity.

Old Denis The father is a man of stubborn, rigid character whose life is defined by his pride in his son. He wants nothing more than to see his family "make a gentleman" of their child, and his arc is one of confusion and eventual acceptance as he realizes his son’s "learning" cannot buy happiness.

Susan Connor The emotional anchor of the story, she is a guileless, beautiful girl who loves Denis for himself. She stands in the way of his ambition, not through malice, but through the reality of her own suffering. She remains steadfast, ultimately forcing Denis to choose between his hollow pride and his humanity.

Father Finnerty The local priest, who acts as a manipulator. He desires control over the parish and uses young Denis as a pawn to secure his own influence. He is the personification of the ecclesiastical corruption that the bishop ultimately seeks to prune.

In Its Own Voice

“He walked, in fact, as if a milk-pail were upon his crown, or as if a single nod of his would put the planets out of order.”

The narrator describes the rigid, unnatural posture of old Denis, whose physical stiffness mirrors his rigid social and intellectual pretensions.

“The moment the determination is made, an incipient sanctity begins, as it were, to consecrate the young priest; and a high opinion of his learning and talents to be entertained, no matter how dull he may be so far as honest nature is concerned.”

This observation captures the central irony of the book: that the community’s blind, reverent submission to the priesthood creates the very environment in which a charlatan like Denis can flourish.

What It's Really About

At its core, the book examines the dangerous intersection of social aspiration and religious authority. It questions the legitimacy of a system where "learning" is measured by one's ability to obscure the truth with Latin, rather than by moral clarity. The primary argument is that the cultural pressure to elevate a son into the priesthood—often to the detriment of his own nature and the happiness of those around him—is a form of societal vanity. The author exposes how this hunger for status leads to a loss of authenticity, suggesting that true character is found not in the "gentlemanly" pursuits of a priest-in-waiting, but in the honest, earthy connections of the peasantry.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate sharp, character-driven satire and the rhythmic, evocative flavor of Irish dialect will find this a rewarding, if challenging, experience. The book feels like a window into a world where the power of language is the primary currency of social survival. The prose is rich with a formal, almost mock-heroic tone that keeps the comedy alive, but it requires patience to navigate the layers of nineteenth-century pedagogical humor.

It is important to approach the book with an awareness of its period attitudes toward gender and class; Susan’s suffering is treated with genuine pathos, but she is a character whose agency is often limited by the expectations of her time. The most resonant aspect of the reading experience is the contrast between the "learned" nonsense Denis spews and the quiet, painful reality of the lives he impacts. It remains a timeless warning about the cost of chasing a life that is fundamentally unsuited to one’s own heart. If you enjoy stories about the collision between personal ambition and community tradition, this volume provides a deeply textured, often humorous look at the absurdities that arise when people try to play parts they were never meant to inhabit.