Chapter Six - ‘Mary Lanigan marries John Fanning: 1977’
The marriage between Mary Lanigan and John Fanning took place in the summer months of 1977. It was a modest do that was paid for from the savings of John Fanning, and the ceremony took place in Clonmel because of the recent illness of John’s mother.
Nine months earlier, John’s mother had a smear test after having experienced too much vaginal bleeding and constant pain in her lower belly. The smear test revealed the presence of cervical cancer. Fortunately, they had caught it in its early stage and the medics were able to deal with it by the surgical removal her cervix and uterus. After having had the hysterectomy, John’s mother was given some post-operative radiotherapy to reduce the risk of recurrence.
While his mother Maureen had given birth to three children in total, she was secretly pleased to be released from her Catholic duty as a wife to continue having children. She’d always felt ill at ease for using contraceptives without her husband’s knowledge after her twin sons had been born.
In fact, the form of contraception Maureen Fanning had used most after Davy and Frank were two years old was that of ‘celibacy’. ‘If a woman doesn’t do it, she can’t get pregnant’ was the irrefutable logic she applied to her life.
Soon after the birth of the twins, John’s mother stopped chastising her husband, Henry Fanning, for his constant state of drunkenness. At least when John’s father now came home from the pub drunk, his wife knew that he was not in any state to demand his marital rights, let alone sober enough to be able to do anything about it should he try! John Fanning would simply have arrived home the previous night too drunk to ever know the next day what had/hadn’t occurred in the marital bed the previous night.
Having recently completed a course of radiotherapy, John’s mother was still feeling ill most days and unable to keep down her food.
Nine months earlier, John’s mother had a smear test after having experienced too much vaginal bleeding and constant pain in her lower belly. The smear test revealed the presence of cervical cancer. Fortunately, they had caught it in its early stage and the medics were able to deal with it by the surgical removal her cervix and uterus. After having had the hysterectomy, John’s mother was given some post-operative radiotherapy to reduce the risk of recurrence.
While his mother Maureen had given birth to three children in total, she was secretly pleased to be released from her Catholic duty as a wife to continue having children. She’d always felt ill at ease for using contraceptives without her husband’s knowledge after her twin sons had been born.
In fact, the form of contraception Maureen Fanning had used most after Davy and Frank were two years old was that of ‘celibacy’. ‘If a woman doesn’t do it, she can’t get pregnant’ was the irrefutable logic she applied to her life.
Soon after the birth of the twins, John’s mother stopped chastising her husband, Henry Fanning, for his constant state of drunkenness. At least when John’s father now came home from the pub drunk, his wife knew that he was not in any state to demand his marital rights, let alone sober enough to be able to do anything about it should he try! John Fanning would simply have arrived home the previous night too drunk to ever know the next day what had/hadn’t occurred in the marital bed the previous night.
Having recently completed a course of radiotherapy, John’s mother was still feeling ill most days and unable to keep down her food.
~~~~~
On the day of her oldest son’s wedding, a reception was planned for both families and a few of John’s Hurley friends at a small Working Men’s Club half a mile from the church.
To tell the truth, had both Mary and John had the last say concerning their marriage arrangements, each would have willingly missed out inviting all family members or any other person apart from the obligatory witness. All they wanted to do was to get married to each other and immediately retire to the bridal bed in their own home which John had rented in Albert Street.
The highest fear of the young bride was that her father might drink too much before he was due to walk her down the aisle. Were that to happen, she’d simply die in shame and never speak to him again.
In fact, both marriage partners feared the behaviour of their respective fathers and the amount of beer they each drank. Mary and John knew that the longer the reception went on, the more each would drink too much, and the greater the likelihood that something would kick off and turn the occasion into a typical Irish wedding. Both men liked fierce discussion over a drink, whatever the topic of conversation.
Mary and John knew the danger and tried to keep both fathers apart as much as possible. The worse possible outcome of the wedding reception would be if the two fathers-in-law were to meet face-to-face. Mary and John feared that were that to happen, they might start off as drinking buddies, but before the day was through, they’d become drinking competitors, each seeing who could drink a pint faster than the other; before then arguing which of them had won!
As for the married couple’s respective mothers, apart from seeing their oldest child happily married and suitably matched, the bulk of their afternoon would be spent in embarrassing expectation as they tried to moderate the alcoholic intake of their booze-loving husbands.
Mary and John didn’t really relax until they’d got home that night and went to bed. The first time they made love wasn’t the most romantic or memorable of occasions that each had hoped it to be, as Mary was too tense, and John was simply too knackered!
Within the next fortnight, however, once they’d lost any sense of naked embarrassment, the newly-weds discovered the pleasures of each other’s bodies, along with a heightened sense of excitement and sexual satisfaction that each had only dreamed of previously.
When her husband John entered her, he found no involuntary tightness expressed by his virgin bride, Mary. The passage was smooth and effortless, and within a matter of less than a month, none would ever have known how inexperienced a young woman Mary had been as she stood at the altar reciting her marriage vows.
Now, so short a time after setting up house together, John felt himself to be an inextricable part of Mary, and she him. It was truly a marriage meant to be.
To tell the truth, had both Mary and John had the last say concerning their marriage arrangements, each would have willingly missed out inviting all family members or any other person apart from the obligatory witness. All they wanted to do was to get married to each other and immediately retire to the bridal bed in their own home which John had rented in Albert Street.
The highest fear of the young bride was that her father might drink too much before he was due to walk her down the aisle. Were that to happen, she’d simply die in shame and never speak to him again.
In fact, both marriage partners feared the behaviour of their respective fathers and the amount of beer they each drank. Mary and John knew that the longer the reception went on, the more each would drink too much, and the greater the likelihood that something would kick off and turn the occasion into a typical Irish wedding. Both men liked fierce discussion over a drink, whatever the topic of conversation.
Mary and John knew the danger and tried to keep both fathers apart as much as possible. The worse possible outcome of the wedding reception would be if the two fathers-in-law were to meet face-to-face. Mary and John feared that were that to happen, they might start off as drinking buddies, but before the day was through, they’d become drinking competitors, each seeing who could drink a pint faster than the other; before then arguing which of them had won!
As for the married couple’s respective mothers, apart from seeing their oldest child happily married and suitably matched, the bulk of their afternoon would be spent in embarrassing expectation as they tried to moderate the alcoholic intake of their booze-loving husbands.
Mary and John didn’t really relax until they’d got home that night and went to bed. The first time they made love wasn’t the most romantic or memorable of occasions that each had hoped it to be, as Mary was too tense, and John was simply too knackered!
Within the next fortnight, however, once they’d lost any sense of naked embarrassment, the newly-weds discovered the pleasures of each other’s bodies, along with a heightened sense of excitement and sexual satisfaction that each had only dreamed of previously.
When her husband John entered her, he found no involuntary tightness expressed by his virgin bride, Mary. The passage was smooth and effortless, and within a matter of less than a month, none would ever have known how inexperienced a young woman Mary had been as she stood at the altar reciting her marriage vows.
Now, so short a time after setting up house together, John felt himself to be an inextricable part of Mary, and she him. It was truly a marriage meant to be.
