Agnes Browne Book

The Mammy: Agnes Materfamilias

Welcome to Jarlath Street, Dublin. 1967. And there lives Agnes Browne. Thirty-four years old. Catholic. The mother of seven children, from Mark, age fourteen, down to Baby Trevor. The tot with the face of an angelic cherub who smiles and greets strangers with a distinctly understood "Fuck off!" Ah, at least he says it with a smile.

Agnes Browne, nee Reddin, is widowed young. Her husband, Redser, is struck down by an errant driver. That is Agnes' lot in life as we meet her. Keeping home and hearth together with the loss of her husband's income will be no easy thing. There's the widow's pension, of course. Then there's the sparse income from Agnes' fruit and vegetable stand she shares with best friend Marion Monk over on Moore Street. But it's a hard life keeping seven children in food, shoes, and clothes.

Though the street on which Agnes lives was named after a Saint, it is not a bit of Heaven, but a maze of tenement houses. Those who live on Jarlath Street call it the Jarro. There is no easy solace to be found on such a street except in a good pint pulled by the Publican and the degree of faith you find in your Catechism. The reality is it's a rough place, where rough people live, and those who live there are no strangers to violence.

Agnes is accustomed to violence. During her marriage to Redser, she was used to the backhand slap of her husband. Identical to the slap delivered to her by her Father when she was a wee wan. It must be a common school for louts who learn to treat women hard to keep them under control.

There's enough alcohol on the breath of those who live in the Jarro to seemingly allow anyone to escape from the reality of life lived there. Brendan O'Carroll could easily have written a bleak and hopeless look at life had he chosen to do so. But he did not.

Sure there is sorrow and sadness here. There are instances contained within these pages to bring any reader with a heart tears. Yet, there is also great humor here. It is that artful mix of joy and sadness that makes The Mammy the memorable read that it is, just as all life is neither all laughter nor all tears.

O'Carroll is a talented writer with an ear f0r dialog. He has spent many years telling the stories of Agnes Browne and her children. The Mammy was published in 1994. Three other volumes about Mrs. Browne and her children have followed. I will read them all.

One of the highest rated BBC Series is O'Carroll's show, "Mrs. Brown's Boys." It is an enjoyable watch. However, with O'Carroll himself playing Agnes Brown, understand the emphasis on television and in the movies O'Carroll has written is humor. It's in the perfect prose of O'Carroll's writing his true mastery shines. Read this. And join me as I read the remaining volumes. The Mammy is a true gem to be treasured.