Grandma's gift of a penny to nora most likely indicates that
she is stingy and mean-hearted
the story takes place many years ago
the family is expecting difficult times
she prefers her granddaughter over her grandson

The story takes place many years ago.

Explanation:

In Frank O'Connor's short story "First Confession", the little boy Jackie's narration revolves round his childhood incident of his first ever confession. Brought up in a strict Christian family under his grandmother, he had gone to the church along with his elder sister Nora to confess their sins to the young priest.

Jackie mentions in his initial narrative how Nora "just sucked up to the old  woman for the penny she got every Friday out of the old-age  pension, a thing I could not do". This detail is likely suggestive of the fact that the story happened a long time back, considering how Nora and the narrator may have valued a penny. He also wanted a penny but he "was too honest", thus unable to hide his disregard for his grandmother's presence in their house.