A Love Divided is a 1999 Irish film Based on a True Story, starring Orla Brady and Liam Cunningham.
It's 1957 in the small Wexford town of Fethard-on-Sea. A marriage is happening between two lovebirds Sean and Sheila. Sean is Catholic and Sheila Protestant, meaning that Sheila must comply to the Catholic Church's Ne Temere decree; any children of her and Sean's have to be raised Catholic. It's an order, not a request.
Years later, when their eldest daughter Eileen is old enough to start school, Sheila wants to have her attend the local Protestant one instead. This enrages the Catholic priest Father Stafford (Tony Doyle), and causes conflict between husband and wife. Sheila ends up taking Eileen and her other daughter Mary, fleeing to Scotland. In retaliation, Father Stafford orders a boycott of all local Protestant-owned businesses. Riots ensue.
Tropes:
- Adorably Precocious Child: Eileen early on teases her aunt for still being unmarried. She's six.
- Adaptation Explanation Extrication: Several Protestant businesses, such as Katie Anderson, are shown still being able to remain open in spite of the boycott. The film doesn't mention that numerous donations from Northern Ireland helped keep some of these people afloat.
- All Girls Like Ponies: Downplayed, but Sheila has a better affinity for calming the horse than Sean. After she leaves, he struggles to control it. A later scene even juxtaposes Sean trying to learn to yoke their horse with Sheila comforting another in Scotland.
- Armour-Piercing Question: Dorothy, Sheila's sister reminds her of everything she has. And when she's asked the following question, Sheila literally answers with "I don't know"."You have two lovely children. You're married to a smashing fella. What is the problem?"
- Artistic License – History:
- The film depicts Sean and Sheila marrying in the town without hassle. It leaves out that they'd previously fled to England to marry in a registry office, and were only pressured to come back home and marry under the Ne Temere decree by a local priest.
- In order to prop up The Reveal that Tom gave Sheila £30 pounds to escape, it's left out that Sheila sold a litter of pigs to finance an additional £32 for her trip.
- Sheila in real life took her children to Somerset for a while as well. The film just covers her going to Belfast and Scotland for convenience purposes.
- Some of the more intense scenes of property damage were invented for the film.
- The boycott was ended before the Cloneys returned to the town.
- The Atoner:
- Once she reaches Scotland, Sheila is clearly so ashamed of how far things have gone that she continually punishes herself. She refuses one room at Helen's because it's "too grand" and insists she and the girls will sleep in a chicken coop, and she later won't take a break during work.
- Sean travels all the way to Scotland to beg forgiveness from Sheila, even taking a punch from a man who thinks he's attacking her.
- Badass Boast: The boycott mob tries to threaten Andy Bailey, the atheist barman. He bars them, and tells them to bring guns if they return. One man tries to claim they don't need guns, raising a hurl threateningly. Cue Andy pulling a pistol out and declaring "yes, you do."
- Bait the Dog: One of Father Stafford's first scenes is cheerfully greeting young Eileen and then buying ice cream for every child in the shop. This makes his Face–Heel Turn into the main antagonist all the more startling.
- Bittersweet Ending: Although Sheila and Sean are happily reunited, Sheila's narration says that the town was never the same again and their two daughters were homeschooled and kept in isolation for the rest of their childhoods (the real Eileen says they were eventually accepted back into the community by the end of the 60s, and their parents became very active (although Sheila never liked to speak of the incident). The Catholic church doesn't give a formal apology until 1998.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Both Sean and Sheila present valid viewpoints in their disagreement over Eileen's schooling.
- Sheila has every right to want to be free to make her own decisions about how her child is raised with her husband, and not because of a priest abusing his authority; especially if her own faith is being suppressed.
- Sean meanwhile points out that Sheila's little act of rebellion embarrassed him in front of the town, and it's not as though it won't have more consequences.
- Break the Haughty: The final part of the movie serves as a big one for Father Stafford. Sean calls him out publicly in the town hall, defies him and challenges the boycott. The priest is left screaming at The Unfettered, looking utterly foolish and ineffective. The boycott is ordered ended by the president himself, who privately got approval from the Vatican, further undermining Father Stafford. The bishops likewise withdraw their support, and Father Stafford has to publicly be seen ending the boycott by visiting Katie Anderson's shop. To cap off his humiliation, Katie refuses to take his money.
- Broken-Window Warning: Naturally, as part of the boycott, rocks are thrown through the windows of the town school.
- Children Are Innocent: Little Eileen first thinks that when they've run away, they're just going on holiday, and that their father will join them soon.
- Cool Old Lady: Helen Pottinger, who acts as a Benevolent Boss to Sheila when she has to flee to the Orkney Islands. She's also a kindly figure to the girls, gives Sheila helpful advice, and helps facilitate her and Sean reuniting.
- Didn't Think This Through:
- Sheila signed the pledge that her children would be raised Catholic "to keep the peace" and didn't think anything of it. Even the Protestant priest reminds her of this.
- This bites her in the ass again when she takes her daughters and flees. She's denounced in the town as a kidnapping homewrecker, and this leads to boycotts of Protestant-owned businesses.
- Divorce Assets Conflict: It doesn't go to divorce, but Sheila's lawyer advises her that, if the matter goes to court, the Catholic church will push for Sean to get custody of the girls.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The Catholic persecution of Protestant-owned businesses has a lot of imagery that parallels Kristallnacht.
- Due to the Dead: Helen Pottinger organises a ritual every year where the children lay wild flowers on a monument to a young pregnant woman that drowned herself because her child was illegitimate. Both to remember her and "share the blame".
- Expository Hairstyle Change: Sheila wearing her hair up once she reaches Scotland is mostly practicality - as she'll be doing lots of work that would require it be tied up - but it also conveys her sadness at having to leave home.
- Freudian Excuse: Sean's parents died when he was younger, and he has no Catholic family members he can consult with, which is why Father Stafford is able to manipulate him.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Sean tries to defend the boycott by saying he just wants his girls back home, but is shot down by Andy, reminding him of all the innocent people who are suffering because of it.
- Good Shepherd: The Protestant priest Reverend Fischer, a Reasonable Authority Figure, in whom Sheila can confide her worries.
- Happily Married: Sheila and Sean are very much in love, and Good Parents to their two daughters. The only reason they don't stay happy is Father Stafford's meddling.
- Hero of Another Story: The real Sean Cloney would later expose a paedophile priest in the 1980s, which was no small feat.
- Honor Before Reason: Sheila's attitude towards Eileen not attending St Brigid's school isn't because it's a worse one than the town school, and it's not as though going along with Father Stafford would negatively affect her life. It's the principle of the thing, and she wants to be free to make the choice herself. It's then subverted however when she realises that this is slowly suppressing the Protestant faith, and it'll take rebelling to change it.
- Hourglass Plot: At the beginning, it's Sheila urging Sean to stand up to Father Stafford and think for himself. In the end, Sheila wants to give the Catholics what they want, and it's Sean who publicly defies the priest.
- I'll Pretend I Didn't Hear That: Georgina, Sheila's lawyer, can sense that Sheila is about to be advised to leave the country and says "I can't hear this" - before leaving the room with the girls.
- It Will Never Catch On: Bishop Staunton says "in six months' time, no one will remember this Cloney woman". The full page obituary Sheila got after her 2009 death would disagree.
- It's All My Fault: Tom blames himself for his daughter's departure. Because he gave her thirty pounds to escape.
- Lazy Alias: Sheila goes by 'Mrs Brown' while she's travelling. Helen Pottinger, who acts as her landlady in the Orkney Islands, laughs at the simplicity of it.
- Lifetime Movie of the Week: Released in the 90s when this kind of thing was all the rage. Except it's a theatrical film, Based on a True Story of a woman who literally did take her children and flee an oppressive system, and the husband is portrayed sympathetically too.
- Living MacGuffin: The Cloneys' eldest daughter Eileen ends up starting the whole plot simply because of what school the priest wants her to go to.
- Living Prop: The Cloneys' youngest daughter Mary is too young to affect the plot, and only says the odd line here and there.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Sheila and Sean at one point have a passionate makeout in her father's barn, up against the haystacks.
- Malicious Slander: A newspaper article paints Sheila as a kidnapper.
- Maligned Mixed Marriage: A Catholic-Protestant union. It's only maligned if the Protestant wife doesn't go along with everything the Catholic priest dictates.
- Manly Tears: Sean at one point breaks down crying when smelling some of Sheila's clothes, after the boycott has escalated.
- Metaphorically True: Reverend Hamilton, who arranges for Sheila to leave the country, makes sure he doesn't know where she's going so he can swear on the Bible that he doesn't know where she is.
- Mood Whiplash: The tender scene of Sheila and Sean reconciling is followed by one of the mob burning Tom's barn.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Reverend Hamilton is based on Ian Paisley, who was the actual priest that supplied Sheila's getaway to Orkney.
- No True Scotsman: Father Stafford invokes this, declaring in the pulpit that "no true Catholic" will communicate with or show support for Protestants.
- Oh, Crap!: Everyone tenses up when Father Stafford silently walks into Anna Walsh's classroom to take Eileen out.
- Only Sane Man: Andy is the only atheist in town, and thus refuses to take part in the boycott. He even threatens the mob with a gun when they come calling, and laughs off a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown they give him later.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Eileen Pollock's Scottish accent slips from scene to scene as Helen Pottinger.
- Parting-Words Regret: Sean wakes up one morning to find his wife and both his daughters gone. And the last time he saw them, he'd yelled at Sheila and made Mary cry. With it being The '50s, and Sheila not telling anyone about her plan, he has no way of tracking them down.
- Resigned in Disgrace: Poor Anna Walsh has to resign as teacher once the Protestant boycott begins.
- The Scapegoat: Reverend Fisher, Dorothy and Tom take the blame for Sheila's departure, and this leads to widespread anti-Protestant sentiment in the town.
- Scenery Porn: The Orkney Islands are shown as a beautiful and scenic Arcadia, where it's always sunny and fine.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The local piano teacher is seen moving out of the town as a result of the boycott (in real life, she had eleven pupils withdrawn at once).
- Shaming the Mob:
- Tom, Sheila's father, calls out the locals when he has to sell his cow at auction to make ends meet and no one bids.
"There is no man here who I wouldn't have called a friend. There are some here who I have helped, and some who have helped me. In the name of God, stop this nonsense."- Andy Bailey does the same in the scene literally after the above. He swears off obeying the order to stop serving Protestants. He does it again later.
"I fought for this country, and I look at you sacks of shite and wonder if it was all worthwhile." - Sinister Minister:
- Father Stafford through and through, whose anti-Protestant bias fuels most of the movie's conflict.
- Bishop Staunton is framed very sinisterly and presented as something of a Greater-Scope Villain.
- Subverted with Reverend Hamilton, who Sheila initially says is not that different from Father Stafford. But he does provide her with the means to escape the law.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Sean and Sheila are from different religions. While they're allowed to marry, the law forces their children to be raised Catholics.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Sheila herself had no idea she'd cause a national scandal or a local boycott of her father and friends' businesses simply by taking her daughter to a school the priest disapproved of.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: At his heart, Father Stafford thinks he's helping encourage a father to be reunited with his daughters.
- Women Are Wiser: Sheila is more open-minded compared to Sean. He quotes Father Stafford's flowery "signed a pledge before God" speech, and Sheila deadpans "we signed a piece of paper in front of a priest".
