''Ah, 'tis only a bit o' craic we're having'', laughed Mrs O' Donnell, as she saw the look on young Mary Collins' face.

''Tis harmless me dear''

Mary was newly married to Braden Collins, the doctor, born and bred in the picturesque little seaside town of Lahinch, County Clare, with its beautiful stretch of beach. In an attempt to fit in, considering her husband's standing in the community and also the fact that Braden had always been much loved, Mary had joined the small group of ladies who carried out certain tasks, visiting the sick, setting up church events, summer fetes etc and they all did crafts.

So, every morning at ten, they got together, catching up on town events, some knitting away, crocheting, quilting, and so on. Mary had a gift for making patchwork quilts and was working on a rather special gift for her sister's forthcoming marriage which was much admired by all.

The ladies took a lively interest in their community, however, Mary had begun to notice that, whenever they spoke about anything, it always seemed to end up with a bit of gossip thrown in. She never contributed to it, yet, sometimes felt a little uncomfortable and guilty to be listening in.


''Have ye heard about that poor old woman in the cottage near the church, well......''

''I have never seen such Sunday clothes, fancy going to church in such a short skirt......''

''That young O'Leary boy needs a good tanning, if ye ask me......!''

''Well, old Mrs. Boyle told me she hears them arguing every night and her crying, I think he takes his fists to her ,ye know ....''


And that was how it went every morning with Mary listening, quilting without a murmur.

So this morning, the chatter had taken a serious turn which had instigated Mrs O' Donnell's remark to Mary.

''Ah well, ye know she's been seen in Limerick with a man who is NOT Declan, if ye see what I mean'' whispered Ciara Aherne conspiratorially.

''No! I would never have believed it of young Niamh, she was always such a quiet, mousy little t'ing ye know'' gasped Fiona ,her eyes lighting up at the idea of a juicy piece of gossip.

''Her ma was quite a flighty piece ye know, I remember old Adam having his hands full with her, God rest his soul'' at which point, they paused in their handiwork to cross themselves and kiss their rosaries.


Mary was feeling a bit annoyed at the turn in the chatter and got up to make the tea,

‘’Ach dearie, sit yeself down ,ye going to miss the tale, grinned Ciara with relish ,pulling her back down on her chair. So Mary sat and endured the continuing saga of what young Niamh was up to in Limerick, which went from maybe a relative to a full blown affair with an exciting stranger from Dublin! Finally ending with..

''Ye, know she’s having a young one, and who knows who's the father!'' burst out Clodagh ,looking up from her knitting, sporting a Madame Defarge expression on her face.

Some weeks past and one morning, Mary was doing some errands in the town when she spotted Niamh sitting nursing a cold cup of coffee at a little street café looking very pale and drawn. Mary strode over to her,

''Morning to ye Niamh, grand day is it not, can I not join ye for a cuppa, my feet are fairly crying out for a rest ?''

Niamh looked at Mary, now Mary could see the dark circles shadowing the young girl's green eyes.

''Whatever is the matter Niamh, ye look awful, sure ye need a bite to eat and maybe a wee drop of brandy'' Mary reached for her hand.

''No, no !''

Niamh snatched her hand away and ran across the busy car-ridden road so abruptly that she was barely missed by an oncoming motor cycle whizzing past.

That evening she broached the subject with Braden;

''Now ye know me darlin, I can't discuss my patients with ye'' he replied gently

''Of course, but I was concerned, she looks so bad Braden'', Mary looked so downcast that he pulled her onto his lap and said playfully toying with her curls,

''What kind of doctor do ye take me for woman, I will take care of her ,don't ye worry ye pretty head.''

''Right you are Doctor, but....''

Braden halted any further discussion with a loving kiss which made her forget about Niamh for the time being.

The following morning, Mary went to the church hall as usual, put the kettle on and prepared the tea as one by one, the ladies trickled in, setting up their work and settled down for a cuppa before starting.

No sooner had they all seated themselves in their comfy chairs did the talk turn to Niamh.

Mary sighed inwardly and decided to make an excuse, she couldn't stand much more of this.

''Ach, ladies , sorry to be leaving ye, but I've a message from the doctor, he needs a hand at the surgery she said pretending to be in a rush ,she grabbed her things and ran outside.

As she was walking up the hill, an ambulance went screaming past, sirens flashing , she saw them stop outside Niamh's house, running back down the hill towards the house, she saw them wheeling Niamh out on a stretcher.

Declan, her husband was outside looking totally distraught, Mary placed her hand on his shoulder.

''She lost our baby Mary'', Declan said in a hoarse voice, eyes shining.

''Ah Declan, I'm so sorry'', she replied tenderly.

''You know, she never harmed a living soul, Mary, and those evil old biddies spread all those wicked lies about her, people started to cross the road when she walked down the street-and why! Because someone saw her in Limerick with her cousin, she was helping him to buy a place there, and they had lunch a few times. She didn't deserve people who had known her all her life to badmouth her in this way. Now see! It made her so ill, she lost the little one!''

At that he jumped into the ambulance and it went screaming on its way once more.

Mary turned to find the ladies’ craft group standing shamefaced behind her, having heard the whole story

Giving them all a hard stare she said;

''Ach, where's the harm, 'tis only a bit o' craic!''