The Rachel Incident

Content Warning: This guide briefly mentions abortion.

The post-2008 Irish recession forms the backdrop for the early events of The Rachel Incident, prompting Rachel to find work to pay her school fees and threatening her parents’ ability to provide for their family. The recession followed on the heels of the Celtic Tiger, an economic boom that took place during the 1990s and early 2000s. Due to foreign investments, Ireland experienced a property bubble as well as widespread overzealous bank lending. Several bank scandals also caused distrust in financial institutions.

The effect of the recession was widespread. Many of the housing developments begun during the Celtic Tiger were left unfinished or abandoned, resulting in empty neighborhoods known as “ghost estates.” Unemployment increased rapidly and political factions fought over the best way to correct the downward spiral. Many citizens took to the streets to protest pension cuts and other austerity measures. Young people despaired of attaining any kind of employment in Ireland, and the period between April 2009 and 2010 saw the largest net emigration since 1989 (“Population and Migration.” Irish Central Statistics Office, 2010). In the novel, James Carey, Rachel Murray, and James Devlin are three such young people, all of whom seek a life abroad because of the constrained economic conditions awaiting them in Ireland.

Though Rachel’s family appears at the end of the novel in a happier and more stable economic situation, it took years for Ireland to recover. Immediately after Rachel’s departure in 2010, universities saw many student protests and sit-ins over rising fees and fears about education cuts. Had the character attended UCC only two years later, her ability to stay in school would have been severely compromised. Caroline O’Donoghue uses the atmosphere of the recession years to highlight the difficulties of remaining in Cork for her characters.