How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
There are people who don't talk to each other because their fathers were on opposite sides in the Civil War in 1922. If a man goes off and joins the English army his family might as well move to another part of Limerick where there are families with men in the English army. If anyone in your family was the least way friendly to the English in the last eight hundred years it will be brought up and thrown in your face and you might as well move to Dublin where no one cares. (5.4)
The past isn't past here in Limerick. The old grievances are fresh. 'Tis painful for the men of Limerick to have to move to England to support their families, working for the war machine of a country that oppressed them in the past.
Quote #8
Mikey Molloy's father said anyone who wants to die for Ireland is donkey's arse. Men have been dying for Ireland since the beginning of time and look at the state of the country. (7.1)
Is Mikey Molloy's father right? Is this kind of patriotism misguided and a waste of energy? On the other hand, USA! USA! USA!
Quote #9
No, says Mam, it has to be Irish. Isn't that what we fought for all these years? What's the use of fighting the English for centuries if we're going to call our children Ronald? (7.108)
Names are important in Angela's Ashes. (For more on this see "Tools of Characterization.") What's so wrong about giving your child an English name? Why do names carry such weight in Ireland?