We Are the Brennans

In West Manor, New York, Sunday’s older brother Denny checks the family pub’s finances at the kitchen table in the early morning. He receives a call from a doctor in Los Angeles who tells him that his sister has gotten into a drunk-driving accident and has been injured but is expected to recover. He is surprised that Sunday would get into such an accident because she is ordinarily careful and responsible. He is exasperated that he not only has to pay his brother Jackie’s lawyer fees from his arrest, but now Sunday also will face charges.

These problems are additions to his financial struggles in the midst of opening another location of the family pub, Brennan’s, which he co-owns with his best friend and Sunday’s ex-fiancé, Kale Collins. Furthermore, his lack of communication with his wife, Theresa, has led to her indefinitely separating from him and taking their four-year-old daughter, Molly, four days earlier to stay with her sister Angie. Denny tells the family about Sunday’s accident, which also surprises them. Denny takes Molly to school and thinks about what it will take to bring Theresa and Molly back home. He then leaves for Los Angeles to see Sunday.

Once she is discharged, they go back to her apartment, where Denny sees the quiet, lonely, and unimpressive life she appears to live there. Though Sunday is initially reluctant, Denny convinces Sunday to return to West Manor.

The narrator reveals that Sunday’s initial hesitation to return home was not genuine and that she sincerely wanted to reunite with her family. On the morning of the accident, Jackie’s email sent a link with a newspaper article showing a photograph of Denny and Kale standing in front of the soon-to-be-opened Mamaroneck location of Brennan’s with their children. Sunday went to the bar that night to drown her loneliness and distract her from the fact that her family had seemingly moved on so well without her.

Sunday leaves Los Angeles with Denny and begins to embrace the familiarity of West Manor and New York as she rides to their family home. She sees houses that remind her of her childhood, which makes her anxious. She takes comfort, however, in knowing that one person she does not want to see has left West Manor, that that family’s house has been sold, and that the Penny Whistle Pub has closed.

Upon her return, Sunday observes that the family appears to have been adjusting and managing the family tasks well without her for the past five years. Despite her sudden departure, her younger brothers Jackie and Shane, who has an intellectual disability, and her Irish immigrant father Mickey are happy to see her. Her aunt Clare and older cousin Grail, a detective, also welcome her home and ask her why she drove drunk. The family also expresses shock at her bruised face after the accident. She feels contented to return to her family home and starts reminiscing about her younger years there. She remembers how close she was with her brothers and how she supported and fought for them.

The following morning, Sunday makes coffee for the family and agrees to help Denny manage the pub’s finances until he finds a bookkeeper. She experiences contentment for the first time in five years as she enjoys breakfast with her father and brothers and feels hopeful about starting over in West Manor.

During breakfast, Mickey thinks about how relieved and joyful he is to have Sunday back home and recalls Sunday having a “special place in his heart” (32). He then walks with her to Brennan’s, where he works part-time. He is proud of the pub and how much work Denny, Kale, Sunday, and Jackie put into its creation. He remembers his initial disagreement with calling the pub Brennan’s, as Kale put so much work into creating the pub that they should have named it after him. However, Kale says the name Brennan’s fits and sounds good. The narrator adds that, to Mickey, Kale is a Brennan in all but name and blood. He had been part of this family since childhood. Having an older, ill father and an absent mother, he naturally blended in with the Brennans. And though Mickey initially blamed Kale for Sunday’s leaving, he realized he was not responsible when he saw how painful her departure was for him.

Mickey starts experiencing memory problems and wonders if it is a punishment for his secrets and wrongdoings. He also thinks about his life before he came to the United States. Mickey and his sister Clare lived in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. Due to Mickey’s entanglement with the IRA and Clare’s unwed pregnancy, they decided to immigrate to the United States for a better life.

Later, Mickey wakes up in the middle of the night and overhears Sunday and Jackie talking about her helping Denny with the pub’s finances. Jackie then asks if the email caused Sunday to drink and get into the accident, which she denies. When he tries to talk about trauma, Sunday ends the discussion uncharacteristically sharply. Mickey returns to his room, opens up a compartment in the floor, and writes a reminder note about the secret. He concludes that he must find out what happened and keep Sunday with the family.

On a later day, he watches a Yankees game with Shane, which is a family tradition. During the game, Kale calls the house asking for Denny, and Mickey makes the mistake of telling him he is still at the pub though he is actually on his way home, and it is only on Sundays that he is at the pub.

After visiting his relatives in Dublin, Kale arrives home with his wife, Vivienne, and their son, Luke. He hopes to talk to Denny about the new Mamaroneck location of Brennan’s. His wife is annoyed at his connection to the Brennans but values his work at the pub and thinks it will suit their family. When he arrives at the pub, he is shocked to see Sunday working alone behind the bar. His old excitement and fondness for her begin flooding back into him, but he works to suppress them. She tells him about her accident and then tries to apologize for leaving. However, he becomes overwhelmed by his lingering attachment to her, abruptly says goodbye, and leaves. Before he leaves, however, he hugs her. This makes him feel like he is betraying Vivienne and Luke, but he cannot stop thinking about her.

In the morning, he meets Denny and discusses Sunday’s return. He then discusses Mamaroneck with Denny. Opening up the second location was Denny’s idea, and he continuously disregarded Kale’s concerns about the cost of creating and opening it. Kale decided to take a loan out on his and Vivienne’s house, and he and Denny put all their cash into renovating the pub. Denny reassures him that he has the payment and opening for the Mamaroneck location under control. Though Kale is still unsure how Denny will make it work, he trusts him, deciding when he is in Ireland that he will no longer be the “naysayer” (50) in their partnership.

Later, he tells Vivienne that Sunday is back but that she does not need to worry about her. He tries to ignore Sunday and adhere to his marriage vows to Vivienne for her and Luke’s sake. Four days later, he meets Denny at the pub to make more plans for the new location. Then, Sunday and Mickey arrive at the pub. Sunday expresses concern that Denny made a late payment, but Denny reassures her and Kale that he has everything under control; the Mamaroneck location will open up without any problems. Once again, Kale decides to trust him.