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Damarco Rutlin
Mr. Kearney
Irish literature
10/19/2016
Star of the Sea
In the novel, Star of the Sea the author Joseph OConnor gives the characters, and the
ship that they are sailing on, ironic and sometimes hypocritical names to better display the
hardships that Irish people went through not only during the Potato Famine but also on the way
to America. Joseph OConnor gives these ironic names to the characters not only to make an
analogy about the Church at that time but also explain the blatant disregard for the poor by the
rich.
In Star of the Sea, the vessel in which the whole plot takes place formerly known as the
Golden Lady was renamed to Star of the Sea. Gold is symbolic of justice, wisdom, and
immortality, and a lady is symbolic of a higher class woman. Furthermore, the Star of the Sea is
symbolic of Mary and literally means protector. The ironies start with the first name of the boat
since there were plenty of injustices that happened on the boat. Some examples of this include
the fact that there was class warfare on the ship, and the poorer passengers had to go without
food in certain cases. Also the fact that Lord Kingscourt was murdered on the ship that was
formerly named to represent justice and immortality. Further, Mary is revered as the most
spiritually pure woman who ever lived, and also the only person who ever lived that wasnt
touched by the Devil. Therefore comparing the ship to Mary, implies that the ship and the
journey of the passengers would be blessed. This is obviously not true as there are several
unethical characters in the story such as Dixon and Pius Mulvey who go against all the positive

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symbolisms of the ship. Not only is the name of the ship ironic, but the names of the characters
are also ironic as well.
An example of this is the character, Pius Mulvey. The name Pius literally means pious or
dutiful and his last name means honorable chief. This is ironic because he is a character hired to
kill Lord Kingscourt and in the end doesnt follow through with it. Therefore he isnt honorable
or pious since he is a killer and he isnt dutiful because he doesnt complete his mission. Another
ironic character is Lord Kingscourt. His name symbolizes wealth and resources, yet he attempts
to go to the United States because he is in debt. Furthermore, he planned his own murder so his
children can get a free education since he couldnt afford it on his own.
In conclusion, Joseph OConnor uses ironic names to make a commentary on the church
and the way the rich treated the poor during the Famine. The church claims that everyone should
share their resources and make sure that the poor isnt neglected or abused by the rich. However,
during the Famine the church did the exact opposite, and over a million people lost their lives.
OConnor is trying to teach us that we should be more charitable people.

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Bibliography
O'Connor, Joseph. Star of the Sea. Orlando: Harcourt, 2002. Print.