The Names

Julian and Orla have two daughters, Aoife and Niamh. The family experiences financial hardship during the pandemic as retail outlets close and exhibitions are canceled. Julian’s refusal to ease this pressure by sending his products to England causes conflict with Orla. She is also increasingly critical of her husband’s passivity and reluctance to discipline the children when they misbehave. During the second lockdown, Orla and the children go to stay with Orla’s parents indefinitely.

Cian finally persuades Julian to send a consignment of jewelry to the Liberty store in London. Julian also works on the house and garden in his family’s absence. One day, the smell of a fir tree prompts a vivid memory of his mother approaching. Maia confirms that Cora used to send them behind the garden’s fir trees when she feared Gordon would lose his temper. Giving them pre-prepared snacks, she would announce that it was “Picnic Time.” Maia also reveals that their father wanted to call his son Gordon, but Cora chose the name Julian. From this point, Maia shares further memories of their childhood each time she visits Julian. Learning more about his parents, Julian realizes he is nothing like his father. When Maia describes the night of their mother’s death, Julian cries and then sleeps for two days.

Julian works on a heart-shaped piece of jewelry as he recalls the reasons he fell in love with Orla. One evening, while he is working in the studio, Orla texts to say she is at their house. Julian runs home, determined not to waste any more time without his wife and his daughters. He narrowly avoids two workers carrying a wasps’ nest. Julian tells Orla how much he loves her, and she agrees to come back to him.

Maia begins a serious relationship with Meg, a former homeopathy client. Meanwhile, Sílbhe dies from a hole in the heart. Doctors declare it is “a miracle” that she lived to the age of 88 with this health issue.

Gordon Jr. works at an art gallery and lives with his girlfriend, Comfort. Comfort’s teenage daughter, Ida, affectionately addresses him as “Gord.” Sixty-eight-year-old Cora lives nearby in her own home. Although Gordon Jr. and Maia worry about their mother during the pandemic, she enjoys having a space of her own, tending her garden, and listening to the radio and podcasts.

Cora recalls how her life changed when Gordon Jr. came home after visiting an art gallery with Maia. When his father made a sarcastic comment about Cora’s “burnt offerings,” Gordon Jr. defended her. From then on, Gordon Jr. shielded his mother, taking responsibility for domestic mishaps. He also bought sweet treats to share with her. Cora concealed her disappointment when her son declared he was moving out.

Soon after their son’s departure, Gordon Sr. resumed his abuse of Cora, assaulting her, making her sleep on the floor, and pushing her face into hot food. However, Gordon Jr. had installed secret cameras in the smoke detectors. Confronting his father, Gordon Jr. threatened to distribute the footage of his abusive behavior. Consequently, Gordon Sr. moved out of the family home, signing the property over to Cora.

Gordon Jr. goes to Spain with Comfort, Ida, Cora, Maia, and Kate. While his family is on a boat trip, Gordon visits a gallery to revisit Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son. An audio guide explains the myth of Saturn, recounting how the god ate his children out of fear of being usurped by them. However, Saturn’s son, Jupiter, was protected by his mother and escaped, later going on to overthrow his father.

Lying on the kitchen floor, Gordon Sr. realizes he is dying from a heart attack. Although he tries to focus on the many patients he has helped, he relives the abuse he inflicted on Cora and reflects on the impact this had on his children.

Gordon Sr. imagines a life in which he allowed Cora to walk away after their first meeting, never seeing her again. He envisions Cora taking Irish step dancing classes as a child instead of ballet and falling in love with a boy from school. He also reimagines his first visit to the hospital where his father worked. Instead of feeling admiration for the deference his father inspires in his colleagues, his 10-year-old self overhears hospital staff expressing their true feelings about the surgeon. Consequently, he becomes determined not to follow in his father’s footsteps. Finally, Gordon Sr. imagines Cora arriving at the registry office and naming her son Hugh, after her late father.