Previous
Jesse Kirwan
Christy Moran, an Irishman from Kingstown in County Dublin, is the sergeant-major of Willie’s company in the British Army. Christy speaks roughly and curses often. He complains bitterly about the British Army’s poor treatment of Irish soldiers, and he resents the fact that he must fight loyally for the King of England. He finds a dark humor in the horrors of war, and he jokes ironically about the suffering he and his comrades endure. Despite his gruff exterior, Christy is well-liked. He loves his fellow soldiers, and he does all he can to help the men under his command survive. Moreover, he cares what the other men think of him, and he fears being laughed at because of his reason for joining the army (he wanted to support his wife financially after she lost her right hand in an accident). Christy Moran develops a close bond of friendship with Willie because they experience so much of the war together. In June 1917, shortly after the capture of Wytschaete, Christy receives a medal for his bravery in battle. Later, Christy gives his medal to Willie because he believes Willie has earned it, and he hopes that the medal might keep Willie safe. At the end of the novel, Christy and Joe Kielty bury Willie near St. Court, and Christy carefully marks the location of Willie’s grave on his map.
Christy Moran Quotes in A Long Long Way
The A Long Long Way quotes below are all either spoken by Christy Moran or refer to Christy Moran. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 18 Quotes
“I don’t fucking want [the medal]. You earned it just as much, you stupid cunt. Anyhow, Willie, it has a little harp on it and a little crown, and I reckon between the two it might get you home safe.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes
He missed them all. He missed them when they were killed. He sorrowed to see them killed, he sorrowed to go on without them, he sorrowed to see the new men coming in, and to be killed themselves, and himself going on, and not a mark on him, and Christy Moran, not a mark, and all their friends and mates removed.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire A Long Long Way LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Christy Moran Character Timeline in A Long Long Way
The timeline below shows where the character Christy Moran appears in A Long Long Way. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...the foreign landscape. He sits in a transport with Williams, Clancy, and their company sergeant-major Christy Moran . Willie is comforted by the news that their platoon leader, Captain Pasley, is a...
(full context)
Later in the evening, after the bombardment, Willie’s platoon sits around a brazier listening to Christy Moran ’s mutterings. By filling the silence, Christy brings some comfort to the listeners, distracting them...
(full context)
Chapter 3
While it rains, Christy Moran smokes a cigarette and wishes aloud that he could go on a nice date with...
(full context)
In the middle of the night, Captain Pasley, Christy Moran , Willie, Clancy, Williams, and Pete O’Hara climb up onto no man’s land to fortify...
(full context)
Chapter 4
...what his own name is, and why he’s in the trenches at all. One day, Christy Moran sees a strange yellow cloud moving along the grass. He tells the soldiers to be...
(full context)
After the gas attack, Willie can’t stop thinking that he’s only 18 years old. Christy Moran calls Captain Pasley a fool for refusing to run. In response, Willie gets angry because...
(full context)
...quiet, although Willie’s company hears tales of hundreds of Irish soldiers’ deaths in the Dardanelles. Christy Moran observes that bad news now travels among Irishmen as quickly as good songs used to....
(full context)
Chapter 5
Several weeks later, Christy Moran informs Willie that he’ll soon be granted a few days of home leave. Christy is...
(full context)
Chapter 8
...just took place in Ireland, he’s been irrevocably affected by them. He yearns to know Christy Moran ’s opinion about the rebels in Dublin, and he often has to fight back panic...
(full context)
...man who died on Mount Street. When Willie describes what he witnessed in Dublin to Christy Moran , Christy curses the rebels for stirring up trouble at home while Irishmen are risking...
(full context)
Chapter 9
Willie awakes in the trenches after the poisonous gas has dispersed. Nearby are Christy Moran , Father Buckley, and Captain Sheridan, who are all dazed but alive. Quigley, too, has...
(full context)
Chapter 10
Then Christy Moran asks Willie to sing the “Ave Maria.” Willie is confident he knows the piece well...
(full context)
Chapter 14
...enter a moonlit cornfield. The cornstalks are so high that Willie has to hold onto Christy Moran in front of him so that he doesn’t get lost. Willie repeatedly stumbles over dismembered...
(full context)
...company comes upon a battlefield full of hundreds of British and German corpses. Captain Sheridan, Christy Moran , Willie, O’Hara, and Joe Kielty force their way through the decaying bodies, many of...
(full context)
Christy Moran yells at the advancing soldiers to maintain order, and Willie suddenly finds himself leaping down...
(full context)
Chapter 17
...Although he’s terrified of the upcoming battle, Willie is impressed with the army’s efficient arrangements. Christy Moran praises the new general in charge. The soldiers sit in the trenches while bombshells explode...
(full context)
Christy Moran tells Willie and his fellow soldiers that he joined the army because his wife lost...
(full context)
...and his fellow soldiers reach the ridge, an enemy machine gun opens fire at them. Christy Moran charges, yelling for his comrades to keep up. Christy scales the slope and swiftly kills...
(full context)
...come to relieve the soldiers who led the attack, and Biggs goes ahead to find Christy Moran , Joe Kielty, and a few other men who went too far up the ridge....
(full context)
In the following weeks, Christy Moran earns a medal for his bravery. He also sees King George of England, who comes...
(full context)
Next month, Willie’s company is sent back to Ypres. Christy Moran complains that the new general, Gough the Mutineer, is sympathetic to the Ulstermen.
(full context)
Chapter 18
...a struggle to move forward. A great number of soldiers fall, dead or wounded. Willie, Christy Moran , Joe Kielty, and Timmy Weekes successfully reach the allotted line and stop. A second...
(full context)
...Buckley burying a corpse out in the open. Willie calls out to the priest, but Christy Moran tells him to shut up. The soldiers who led the attack are officially relieved, and...
(full context)
...forgotten and abandoned by their own officers. They receive no food or water rations. Finally, Christy Moran tells Willie that he can go home on furlough. Willie rejoices gratefully. Before he leaves,...
(full context)
Chapter 21
...in reserve at home won’t be coming to Flanders; instead, they’ll be sent to England. Christy Moran says the British don’t trust the Irish anymore. Since the battalions have shrunk in numbers...
(full context)
...a piece of shrapnel from a shrapnel bomb cuts through a young English soldier’s leg. Christy Moran and Willie stare dazedly at the boy and his severed foot. The stretcher-bearers arrive, mildly...
(full context)
...approaching through the fog, so for hours they simply huddle in the trenches and wait. Christy Moran tries to call for help, but the phone in the dugout is dead. Several hours...
(full context)
Chapter 22
...and lacerations all over his body, and his head and left arm won’t stop shaking. Christy Moran sends Willie a letter telling him that the same explosion that injured him also killed...
(full context)
Chapter 23
When Willie rejoins his platoon, he happily greets Joe Kielty and embraces Christy Moran , who gives him one of Timmy Weekes’s books—a Dostoevsky novel—to keep. Willie is grateful...
(full context)
Christy Moran and Joe Kielty bury Willie where he died. They mark the grave with a wooden...
(full context)
