River Barrow

River in south-east Ireland that runs past the quays of New Ross.

At a glance

Source	Author	Role	In one line
Small Things Like These	Claire Keegan	setting	The river ‘dark as stout’ that runs through the town and the book.

Small Things Like These — Claire Keegan (2021)

Source: Small Things Like These · Readwise highlight

In the town of New Ross, chimneys threw out smoke which fell away and drifted off in hairy, drawn-out strings before dispersing along the quays, and soon the River Barrow, dark as stout, swelled up with rain.

• Role: setting
• In the book: The novel opens in a wet November with chimney smoke drifting along the New Ross quays and the Barrow swelling with rain. Later Furlong crosses the bridge over it, remembers a curse said to lie on the river, and envies its sure course to the open sea.
• Why it matters: The river is the book’s recurring backdrop and an image of the certainty Furlong lacks.