What the Wind Knows

Worried that Liam and Ben will hurt Annie, Thomas decides to ban the Gallagher sons from Garvagh Glebe. Brigid protests, but Thomas insists that they cannot return to the house, or else Brigid must leave as well.

Thomas and Annie go to Dublin for the last treaty debates. Annie meets Countess Markievicz, who impresses her even though Annie knows the countess is against Michael Collins. The debates are complex, and Annie is awed by all the figures, even those she disagrees with. Ultimately, the treaty passes, and Eamon immediately resigns as President. The audience erupts into protests and cheers, and the civil war begins.

On January 14, 1922, Annie, Thomas, and Eoin return to Dublin to watch the installation of the new Irish government. One of its first acts is to dismiss the Black and Tans from the country.

Anti- and pro-treaty skirmishes break out in the streets. When a group of anti-treaty IRA members raids a British ship for guns, Michael Collins suspects the British of colluding with the Irish to demonstrate how incapable Ireland is of self-governance and how badly it needs British rule.

Annie tries to tell Michael Collins how he will die, hoping to save him. But some events in history are unchangeable. Collins refuses the knowledge and accepts his unknown fate. Collins also notices that Annie is pregnant.

Michael Collins dies in an ambush in Cork on August 22, 1922. Annie writes an alternative history story in which she keeps Collins inside that day, saving him.

Robbie and Annie go to watch Sinn Féin founder Arthur Griffith speak. When Annie returns home, the house has been ransacked. Liam corners her at gunpoint as Brigid confronts her about the story detailing the death of Michael Collins. Brigid accuses her of plotting to assassinate Collins, while Liam’s suspicions that Annie is not Anne have been confirmed. Brigid tells Annie to leave forever and Liam leads her to Lough Gill and forces her into the lake. She crawls to shore in 2001 Ireland.

Thomas’s journal details the disappearance of Annie Gallagher. Robbie followed Liam and Anne and shot Liam as he pushed her into the lake. But Anne was gone before Robbie could retrieve her. As Thomas nurses Liam’s gunshot wound, Liam confesses. He knew all along that Annie was not the real Anne because he had accidentally shot the real Anne to death in the evacuation during the Easter Rising. Liam has kept Anne’s wedding ring ever since. Thomas gives the ring to Eoin to keep until he meets Annie again in the future, as his granddaughter.

In 2001, Jim Donnelly saves Annie from the lake and tells her that an Anne Gallagher drowned in that same lake many years before. The police bring Annie to the hospital, where she finds out she is still pregnant. Annie plans to stay in Ireland. Eoin’s estate lawyer Harvey informs her that since Eoin inherited Garvagh Glebe when Thomas died, the house and its land are now Annie’s. Annie returns home and meets Robbie’s ancestor, who is also the caretaker of the estate. He shows her paintings of Anne Gallagher, obsessively painted by the husband who mourned her loss for the rest of his life.

Thomas’s journal details the chaos of 1922. It also records him telling Michael about Liam sending Anne into the lake; Liam was found dead days later, and a boat washed up with Thomas’s journal and Anne’s wedding ring.

Annie welcomes Maeve O’Toole into her home, along with Deirdre the librarian. Maeve reminisces about her youth in Garvagh Glebe. They find a book Annie had written in 1922 about Michael Collins and the Irish cause. Since 1922, the book has been published in commemoration of Ireland’s liberation. Annie finds Thomas’s old journals, including the photograph of Thomas and Annie.

A journal entry from 1922 reveals that Thomas was present when Michael Collins was killed.

Annie visits the cemetery, where she sees her own grave. She reads Thomas’s journals and learns about Eoin’s move to New York. Annie invites Maeve over for tea, and Maeve reveals that she knows that Annie Gallagher is actually the Anne Smith who disappeared decades ago in Lough Gill.

Annie hears about the attack on the Twin Towers on September 11. Her grief and pregnancy make writing too difficult, even though she has an idea for an epic love story.

One day, she passes by the lake and hears a familiar whistle on the wind. She shouts for Thomas, and Thomas appears in a boat. When Eoin left for New York in 1933, Thomas took to the lake to seek the year 2001. Reunited, Annie shows Thomas the Ireland he has always dreamed of.