在愛爾蘭劇作家布萊恩•傅利爾的劇作《凱絲•麥克吉爾的愛情故事》 (1966)中，女主角凱絲結束了長達五十二年於紐約的寓居生活並選擇回歸故 里，但在重返愛爾蘭與家人團聚不久之後卻陷入他鄉實非故鄉、家鄉卻是異鄉 的困境。在其超過半世紀的創作生涯中，傅利爾（ 1929-2015)向來擅長針贬 愛爾蘭的歷史問題與文化僵局，而這齣發表於生涯早期的戲劇作品則顯示出他 對愛爾蘭離散議題的介入與批判。《凱絲•麥克吉爾的愛情故事》關注愛爾蘭女 性的離散經歷，並特別著重再現愛爾蘭女性離家後返家卻面臨鄉關何處的窘 境。換言之，傅利爾在處理愛爾蘭離散的議題時，不僅聚焦在愛爾蘭獨立建國 前後年輕女性跨國遷徙的問題，同時也著重探討愛爾蘭女性與不同時空下的家 之間剪不斷理還亂的複雜關係。除此之外，此劇也呈現奠基於愛爾蘭國族主義 與天主教教義的愛爾蘭性（Inshness)如何形塑了家這個社會空間的多重面向， 以及在國族建構的過程中家與愛爾蘭女性的關聯。在此劇中，經由凱絲闊別數 十載才返回愛爾蘭家園的故事，愛爾蘭中產階級父權概念與實踐下的家與離散 女性所想像與體現的家產生矛盾與衝突。在這過程中，家已不是封閉、排外的 同質空間，也不再只是一般想像中性別分工下社會再生產（social reproduction) 的場域而已；事實上，家作爲一種社會空間總是一個流動開放的異質空間，亦即，不同的社會實踐與介入不停地在其中形塑與顚覆對家的想像和認知、各種 身分認同與實踐、以及社會權力關係網絡。

In this paper, I aim to explore the ways in which Brian Friel, in representing the Irish diaspora through the individual experiences of Cass in The Loaves of Cass McGuire (1966), addresses the spatial issues of the diasporic experiences of Irish women, especially the home of displacement in Ireland and the home of placement outside Ireland. Two versions and conceptualizations of home embodied respectively by the Irish patriarch at home and the migrant woman away from home confront with each other upon the return migration of the latter in this play. Therefore, The Loves of Cass McGuire stages intricate negotiations between the nationalized imaginary of home and the gendered identity of Irish women. Furthermore, as shown in this play, home not only is a private haven of homeliness but also becomes a public site of political contestation and identity formation. An unhomely/uncanny presence, returned women migrants, like Cass, eventually lapse into physical, psychological and social homelessness, and are forced to construct a homely home of their own away from the home of origin.