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Pete O’Hara
James Dunne, Willie’s father, is a tall, stern man from County Wicklow, Ireland. He’s Catholic, and as a unionist, he believes in loyalty to the British crown. In 1912, he becomes chief superintendent of the Dublin Metropolitan Police and moves his family into his new quarters in Dublin Castle. As a policeman, James Dunne is dedicated to maintaining order in Dublin against agitators, especially after the Easter Rising in 1916. He views the Irish rebels as traitors, and he despises them for causing strife and destruction in Dublin. As a parent, James Dunne raises his four children lovingly, especially after their mother dies. He also has strict expectations for his son. He’s disappointed in Willie’s failure to reach the required height to become a policeman. He also furiously berates 20-year-old Willie for sympathizing with Irish nationalist insurgents. Later, however, James Dunne regrets his harsh words against his son. In a tender letter, he asks for Willie’s forgiveness. After the end of the war, James Dunne goes mad and dies in a psychiatric facility.
James Patrick Dunne (Willie’s Father) Quotes in A Long Long Way
The A Long Long Way quotes below are all either spoken by James Patrick Dunne (Willie’s Father) or refer to James Patrick Dunne (Willie’s Father). 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:
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Chapter 6 Quotes
So James Patrick, a man of six foot six, stood his son William, a man of five foot six, into the steaming zinc bath […] and he started to lave his son from head to foot, cascading the water neatly over everything. And the lice must have been flying from Willie Dunne just like those poor men in Sackville Street from the batons, and soon the water speckled with them, little writhing white creatures.
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Chapter 10 Quotes
So Willie started to sing the “Ave Maria.” Well, it was the very selfsame song he had sung for the singing competition, when his father witnessed his undoing. But he had heard that twiddly bit between the verses now, and he knew he was ready for it.
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Chapter 11 Quotes
We got the news now about the three leaders shot. Some of the men think it is a good thing. Myself, I cannot say what I think hardly. How I wish I were at home now and was able to talk these matters over with you. I wish they had not seen fit to shoot them. It doesn’t feel right somehow. I don’t know why. What does John Redmond say about it? When I came through Dublin I saw a young lad killed in a doorway, a rebel he was, and I felt pity for him. He was no older than myself. I wish they had not seen fit to shoot the three leaders.
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Chapter 16 Quotes
“You can know your own mind and your father can know his.”
“But my father and me always had the one mind on things. That’s the trouble, I think—I don’t even know. I’m confused, Father.”
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Chapter 19 Quotes
“It’s a funny, dark world out at the war, Papa,” said Willie slowly. “It brings your mind to think a thousand thoughts, a thousand new thoughts.”
“I won’t stand here and listen to your villainy!” shouted his father.
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James Patrick Dunne (Willie’s Father) Character Timeline in A Long Long Way
The timeline below shows where the character James Patrick Dunne (Willie’s Father) appears in A Long Long Way. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...1896, on a stormy winter night in Dublin, Ireland, a baby is born. The baby’s father names him William after the Orange King. In the Rotunda Hospital, where nurses’ uniforms are...
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...Phoenix Park. There, the visiting King of England is reviewing the Dublin Metropolitan Police. Willie’s father is a member of the police. As an inspector, he sits atop a white horse...
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...whole again, and marvel at the power of words to evoke distant memories. Meanwhile, Willie’s father—a tall man in a dark uniform—scoops Willie up after his bath every day and says...
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...Willie also cries privately about his height, which is a source of sadness for his father, too. Willie will never grow to be six feet tall, the height required to become...
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When Willie is almost 17, his father sends him to bring two pheasants to Mr. Lawlor, who lives in a tenement under...
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...knows his own mind.” Mr. Lawlor thanks Willie but refuses to accept any of his father’s gifts. He also recalls that four people died during the riot on Sackville Street. Willie...
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...job as a carter and joins the army to support himself and his daughter. Willie’s father continues sending Willie to deliver food and gifts to Mr. Lawlor, despite Mr. Lawlor’s protests....
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...he needs to protect innocent people from the Germans, that he wants to please his father, and that he intends to follow his own mind. Skeptical of Willie’s reasoning, Gretta tells...
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Chapter 2
...However, Ulstermen are joining the army for the opposite reason: to prevent Home Rule. Willie’s father thinks Redmond is a scoundrel. He believes men should fight for “King and Country and...
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...to be a policeman, Willie signs up to be a soldier. When he tells his father he has joined the army, his father weeps. Willie’s sisters Maud and Annie are excited...
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In December 1914, soon after his 18th birthday, Willie writes a letter home to his father. With the rest of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, Willie has been in Cork marching and...
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Chapter 6
Willie’s father arrives with Dolly, who rushes to hug her brother. James Dunne calls his son a...
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On the last evening of his furlough, Willie sits in pleasant silence with his father, whom he feels a strong love for. His father says he’ll retire in a few...
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Chapter 7
...see each other. Over the noise of laughing and shouting, Willie asks Jesse what his father does. Willie says his own father is a policeman. Jesse responds that his father, a...
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Chapter 8
...to the frontline trenches in Hulluch. In the evening, Willie writes a letter to his father, dated April 26, 1916. In his letter, Willie asks if his family is safe. He...
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...help the young soldier. Willie defecates in his pants from fear. He prays to his father and grandfather to protect him while machine guns fire and bombs explode.
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Chapter 11
On May 3, 1916, Willie writes a letter to his father. Willie is relieved that his family is safe and comments how dreadful the news from...
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The next day, Willie sends another letter to his father. In it, he writes that he wishes the three rebel leaders hadn’t been shot. He...
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Chapter 15
...lines, Willie receives a letter from his sister Maud. In her letter, Maud says their father is angry at Willie because of his last message, in which he asked about Redmond....
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Chapter 16
...slept with a sex worker in Amiens. He also confides in Father Buckley that his father is angry with him, that he pities the rebels killed in Ireland, and that he...
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...their country’s unity by fighting in this war. In response, Willie says he doubts his father would like Redmond’s ideas. Father Buckley asks Willie what he thinks, assuring him that he...
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Chapter 19
James Dunne comes home. Although Willie fears his father might still be angry with him, he smiles when he sees his father’s face. Thinking...
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...the insurgents when he has a duty to the King of England. Horrified by his father’s words, Willie tries to explain that war can make a person think in new ways,...
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Chapter 22
In June 1918, Willie writes a letter to his father from Shropshire, England. He says he’s been in the hospital but reassures his father that...
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Chapter 23
In October 1918, James Dunne sends a letter to Willie, not knowing that Willie has already died. In the letter,...
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