Mat O’Connor, a political canvasser for the Nationalist candidate in an upcoming municipal election, has skipped out on work and is rolling cigarettes in the party’s Committee Room headquarters, chatting with the room’s caretaker, Old Jack, who stokes the dying fire. As Jack complains about his drunkard teenage son, describing the physical violence he uses against him and decrying the state of Ireland’s young, O’Connor lights a cigarette with the business card of his boss, Richard Tierney.
In comes a fellow canvasser, Joe Hynes, who declares that their wages have still not been paid. He begins to rail against the corruption and shady reputation of Tierney, praising the opposing candidate, the blue-collar Colgan. In disbelief, he claims that Tierney is considering a welcome speech to Edward VII upon the monarch’s visit to Dublin. John Henchy bursts in, decrying again that they haven’t been paid and joining in the group’s denigration of Tierney. When Hynes takes his leave, O’Connor and Henchy turn their gossip to him, suggesting that he is a spy for the opposition.
Father Keon knocks and is admitted to the room. Skittish and looking for a political official, he immediately exits, prompting further gossip among the men about Keon’s recent disbarment from the clergy for an unnamed infraction and his shady affiliation with Tierney’s campaign. Henchy, O’Connor, and Jack return to the subject of Tierney’s laziness, calling him a “shoeboy” and complaining that they need a drink. They joke about nepotism and dream of distinguished roles in politics.
Finally some sign arrives from their absent boss: the pub delivery boy brings a case of stout from Tierney. Henchy takes back his complaints about the man and offers the boy a drink. Old Jack begrudgingly uncorks a bottle for him, and they make small talk before the boy leaves.
As they begin to drink and discuss their canvassing gains, Bantam Lyons and Crofton, yet more canvassers, enter the room. Crofton greets the men’s questions with silence while Lyons makes small talk. Without the corkscrew, Henchy places bottles for the men in the fireplace, expecting the heat to expel their corks. Crofton is a Conservative and feels sulky about working in the presence of Nationalists—hence his silence. Henchy continues bragging about his canvassing prowess when Lyons starts to poke at the reputation of Charles Stewart Parnell, the late Nationalist leader who died in disgrace after the public learned of his extramarital affair. O’Connor and Henchy grow heated, refusing to let Parnell be denigrated on the anniversary of his death.
During this tussle, Hynes reenters and O’Connor urges him to recite his elegy for Parnell. Hynes first refuses, then agrees, unleashing an eleven-stanza ballad in praise of Parnell, full of bitterness for the “hypocrite” Nationalists who turned against him. The men clap then fall silent. The room returns to its prior state of quiet small talk; O’Connor rolls another cigarette.
