“Let a man breed sons and he was a real man.” 

Fiona neglects her only daughter, Meggie, believing that sons are more important than daughters. Inherited wisdom leads her to believe that sons will buoy her husband’s status in the world. Ironically, by the end of the book, none of her sons has had any children at all, and Fiona’s only grandson, who has become a priest, dies by drowning, ensuring that no male heirs exist at all for the Cleary family.

“Meggie did not weep. Something in her little soul was old enough and women enough to feel the irresistible, stinging joy of being needed.” 

While Meggie comforts her much older brother Frank, she does not cry herself. Instead, she allows him to weep, his head resting on her body, and she strokes his hair to soothe him. She feels a pleasure in her duty to offer comfort to Frank, and her role as a supporter of men is established. 

“To [Paddy], his religion was a warmth and a consolation; but to the rest of his family it was something rooted in fear, a do-it-or-thou-shalt-be-damned compulsion.” 

Paddy, out of nostalgia, welcomes Father Ralph and his Catholicism remembering his childhood in Galway. Ralph’s casual friendliness and approachability confuses the others, who are accustomed to strict, demanding religious figures. They suspect that Ralph has arrived to lecture and to judge, so they dare not speak to him. Eventually, for better or worse, the Cleary family learns to trust Ralph.