Nobby: Kieran's Attire in Chic Montreal

Kieran was no snob, yet he enjoyed wearing a nobby hat and tie when visiting Quebec, on business, and to attend a Canadiens game at Le Forum de Montréal.

 

Métier: Gráinne's Meat and Potatoes

Gráinne's métier was service, especially to those who could not help themselves, so Seamus and Kieran were not surprised when they found notes, like the one below, on the kitchen counter:

 

Boys,

 

St. Kev's needed my help with a troubled lad. Supper is in the refrigerator. Bake at 350 for an hour. Enjoy your hockey game. I'll see you later this evening.

 

Love,

 

Mom

 

P.S. Save some potato bake for me. Rinse your plates—they won't wash themselves.

Penny-Wise: Path to a Parochial Education

Kieran's penny-wise ways and Gráinne's insistence on a sound education, afforded the opportunity for Seamus, the O'Sheehan's only offspring, to attend St. Kevin Parochial School.

Kieran: The Lord of Misrule

Every Gaudete Sunday, for as long as Seamus J. O"Sheehan could remember, his father would revive, on humble scale, a controversial Christmas tradition: The selection of the lord of misrule. Rather than being appointed by lot to reside over yuletide shenanigans that mocked the Church's hierarchy, however, Kieran would anoint himself to this household position as a means to coordinate ( albeit with a modicum of levity) a peaceful rejoicing in the season.
 

"Je suis le Prince de Sots," he would say and then light a rose-colored candle to signal his month-long reign over Christmastime protocol. Everything from the tree selection to the songs performed during the O'Sheehan St. Stephen's Day Procession to taking down the holly on Twelfth Night, this was Kieran's domain. Everything, that is, except what transpired in the O'Sheehan kitchen, for Gráinne was the queen of mince pies and soda bread.

Cloche: Covering Grianne's Baked Goods

Gráinne's Irish soda bread, baked on Saturday mornings and then covered by a fine crystal cloche that Kieran had purchased at a garage sale, would tempt Seamus J. O'Sheehan to break away from whatever book he was reading and reward himself with a late-night snack.

Garage Sales and Garniture

Kieran was fanatical about garage sales. Grainne less so. But she tolerated her husband's acumen for rediscovering relics, allowing some of these historical remnants—such as a vintage American Waltham Watch timepiece—to serve as garniture in the couple's renovated basement.

Kieran's Cuticles and Festinate Ways

Kieran was not one to make festinate decisions. With the thumbnail of his left hand, he'd push back the cuticles of the opposite fingers and then groom his left hand in the same fashion, all the while  furrowing his brow as he fretted when and how to explain the vicissitudes of life to Seamus.

Vainglorious: A Character Defect

Kieran is not what most would call a vainglorious hockey dad, but he himself sometimes allowed his ego to swell when Seamus executed a face-off tactic he had taught his son. "I taught Sonny that move," he would sometimes whisper to the hockey patron sitting next to him—and then apologize for being so boastful.