Characters
Mr. Benson
Mr. Benson is a teacher at Leamy's National School. Known for his fierce and short-tempered nature, he intimidates the boys and frequently strikes them with his stick. As Frank describes him, "He roars and spits all over us all day."
Theresa Carmody
Theresa Carmody is a seventeen-year-old girl Frank meets while delivering telegrams. With her red hair and green eyes, Theresa is suffering from consumption. She and Frank share several intimate moments, but she passes away within weeks, leaving Frank devastated.
Paddy Clohessy
Paddy Clohessy is Frank's friend from when they were seven years old. Paddy has six brothers and one sister, and the family lives in extreme poverty. He attends school barefoot and in tattered clothes. In one episode, he and Frank steal from an orchard and drink milk straight from a cow. Later, Paddy relocates to England and works in a pub.
Declan Collopy
Declan Collopy is four years older than Frank. According to Frank, "He has lumps on his forehead that look like horns. He has thick ginger eyebrows that meet in the middle and hang over his eyes, and his arms hang down to his kneecaps." Declan is a bully tasked with ensuring attendance at the Confraternity that Frank joins.
Peter Dooley
Peter Dooley, nicknamed Quasimodo due to a hump on his back reminiscent of the hunchback of Notre Dame, is five years older than Frank. Frank describes him, "His red hair sticks up in all directions. He has green eyes and one rolls around in his head so much he's constantly tapping his temple to keep it where it's supposed to be." Quasimodo adopts an English accent and aspires to be a BBC newsreader. He succumbs to consumption.
Mrs. Brigid Finucane
Mrs. Finucane hires Frank to compose threatening letters to people who owe her money.
Philomena McNamara Flynn
Philomena is a cousin of Frank's mother. She is a large, imposing woman who helps arrange for the McCourt family's return to Ireland from Brooklyn.
Delia McNamara Fortune
Delia is Philomena Flynn's sister and another cousin of Frank's mother. Similar to Philomena, she is described as "great breasted and fierce." Together with her sister, she organizes the McCourts' return to Ireland.
Grandma
Grandma is Angela's mother and Frank's grandmother. She has "white hair and sour eyes" and is deeply religious. Despite her constant complaints, she tries to assist the McCourts. She dies of pneumonia when Frank is thirteen.
Laman Griffin
Laman Griffin is Angela's cousin. After their house is destroyed, Angela and her sons move in with him. A former Royal Navy officer working as a laborer for the Electricity Supply Board, Laman spends much time in bed reading and smoking. He and Angela become lovers. Occasionally, he gets drunk, and in one instance, he angrily beats Frank.
Bridey Hannon
Bridey Hannon is the McCourts' neighbor. She remains unmarried and lives with her parents. She often smokes and spends long hours chatting with Angela by the fire.
John Hannon
John Hannon, Bridey Hannon's father, earns his living by delivering coal. Unfortunately, he suffers from diseased legs, making it difficult for him to continue working. Frank eventually helps him with his job.
Mr. Harrington
Mr. Harrington, an Englishman, has recently lost his wife. He becomes enraged at Frank when the boy delivers a telegram and attempts to get Frank fired from his job.
Aunt Aggie Keating
Aggie, Frank's aunt, is a large woman with striking red hair who works in a clothing factory. Unable to have children of her own, she envies her sister Angela. When the McCourt boys stay at her house, she is abusive, often calling Frank ‘‘scabby eyes.’’
Uncle Pa Keating
Pa Keating, Frank's uncle, has skin blackened from shoveling coal into the furnaces at the Limerick Gas Works. A World War I veteran, he suffered from poison gas during the war. Despite his hardships, he has a great sense of humor, which Frank finds entertaining.
Alphie McCourt
Alphie McCourt is the youngest of Frank's brothers; he is nine years old when Frank departs for America.
Angela McCourt
Angela McCourt, originally Angela Sheehan, is Frank's mother. She grew up with her three siblings in a Limerick slum, never knowing her father who abandoned the family before her birth. Sent to New York in her teens, Angela met Malachy McCourt at a party. After becoming pregnant, they married, but their relationship was fraught with difficulties. Angela's husband is an irresponsible drunkard. She loses three of her seven children in infancy and struggles to provide for her family in extreme poverty. Despite her constant complaints about their dire circumstances, Angela displays remarkable resilience and endurance.
Eugene McCourt
Eugene McCourt, Frank's younger brother and Oliver's twin, dies of pneumonia at the age of two.
Frank McCourt
Frank McCourt, the oldest child of Malachy and Angela McCourt, narrates the story. Raised in poverty, his spirits remain high as he has never known any other way of life. When his twin brothers pass away in infancy, he is too young to grasp the situation. At Leamy's National School, Frank makes friends easily and engages in various schoolboy mischiefs, though he is often ridiculed for his poorly repaired shoes, a sign of his impoverished state. The other boys taunt him with mocking rhymes. Frank also suffers from health issues; he nearly dies from typhoid fever and later contracts severe conjunctivitis. Despite these challenges, he excels academically. On the headmaster's advice, Frank's mother attempts to enroll him in the Christian Brothers School to further his education, but he is rejected due to his background from the slum districts of Limerick, known as the "lanes." Frank is not disheartened as he wishes to leave school and start earning money. He feels a great sense of pride when he secures odd jobs and contributes financially to his family. As he enters his teenage years, Frank experiences his first love affair with a dying girl and witnesses more of life's harsh realities, such as his mother begging for food and the dire conditions of people he meets while delivering telegrams. Ultimately, he saves enough money to achieve his long-held dream of emigrating to America.
Malachy McCourt
Malachy McCourt, Frank's father, was born in Ireland and fought with the Irish Republican Army against the British. After becoming a fugitive, he fled to New York, where he married Angela Sheehan. Malachy struggles with alcoholism and cannot maintain employment for more than a few weeks. When jobless, he often spends his welfare money at the pub, returning home late while singing patriotic Irish songs. Despite his flaws, Malachy loves his children and entertains them with imaginative stories. He tells them they must be ready to die for Ireland. During World War II, Malachy leaves for England to work in a factory but fails to send money back to his family. He returns briefly one Christmas, promising gifts for everyone, but his wife discovers he has already eaten half of the chocolates he brought.
Margaret McCourt
Margaret McCourt is Frank's infant sister who dies in Brooklyn.
Michael McCourt
Michael McCourt is six years younger than Frank. At six years old, he shows a compassionate side by bringing home stray dogs and homeless old men.
Oliver McCourt
Oliver McCourt, the youngest of the McCourt children, is Eugene's twin. He dies of pneumonia at the age of two.
Mikey Molloy
Mikey Molloy, the son of Peter and Nora Malloy, is a friend of Frank's. He suffers from epileptic seizures and is nicknamed Malloy the Fit. Being two years older than Frank, he is considered "the expert in the lane on Girls' Bodies and Dirty Things in General."
Brendan Quigley
Brendan Quigley, one of Frank's classmates, is known for his constant questioning, earning him the nickname Question Quigley.
Quasimodo
See Peter Dooley.
Seamus
Seamus works as a cleaner at the hospital where Frank is treated for typhoid fever. He befriends Frank and brings him books to read.
Uncle Pat Sheehan
Uncle Pat Sheehan, Frank's uncle, was dropped on his head as a baby, resulting in his simple-mindedness. Known as Ab, short for The Abbot, he is illiterate but makes a living selling newspapers.
Nora Molloy
Nora Molloy, Peter Molloy's wife, is a friend of Frank's mother. She sometimes becomes so overwhelmed with worry about feeding her family that she is admitted to the lunatic asylum.
Peter Molloy
Peter Molloy, Nora Malloy's husband, is a champion beer drinker who occasionally spends his dole money on alcohol. Frank notes that Peter ‘‘doesn't give a fiddler's fart about what the world says.’’
Mr. O'Dea
Mr. O'Dea is a teacher at Frank's school, known for his ability to hurt and shame the boys.
Mr. Thomas O'Halloran
Mr. O'Halloran serves as the headmaster of Leamy's National School. The boys call him Hoppy because he has a short leg and hops when he walks. He is the strictest teacher, insisting that the boys memorize everything.
Mr. O'Neill
Mr. O'Neill, another teacher at Frank's school, is called Dotty by the boys due to his small stature. He has a passion for Euclidean geometry and teaches it even when it's not on the curriculum.
Fintan Slattery
Fintan Slattery, one of Frank's classmates, is very pious along with his mother. He aspires to become a saint when he grows up.
Mr. Timony
Mr. Timony, an elderly man with poor eyesight, pays Frank to read to him. He identifies as a Buddhist.
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