- 2 days ago
An Irish Catholic family returns to 1930s Limerick after a child's death in America. The unemployed I.R.A. veteran father struggles with poverty, prejudice and alcoholism as the family endures harsh slum conditions.
Based on the best-selling autobiography by Irish expatriate Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes follows the experiences of young Frankie and his family as they try against all odds to escape the poverty endemic in the slums of pre-war Limerick. The film opens with the family in Brooklyn, but following the death of one of Frankie's siblings, they return home, only to find the situation there even worse. Prejudice against Frankie's Northern Irish father makes his search for employment in the Republic difficult despite his having fought for the I.R.A., and when he does find money, he spends it on drink.
The Hopes of a Mother. The Dreams of a Father. The Fate of a Child.
Director: Alan Parker
Writers: Frank McCourt, Laura Jones, Alan Parker
Stars: Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle, Joe Breen
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0145653/
tt0145653
child, labor, boy, boys, irish, ireland, based on autobiography, twins, great depression, brother, sister, relationship, 1940s, 1940
Based on the best-selling autobiography by Irish expatriate Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes follows the experiences of young Frankie and his family as they try against all odds to escape the poverty endemic in the slums of pre-war Limerick. The film opens with the family in Brooklyn, but following the death of one of Frankie's siblings, they return home, only to find the situation there even worse. Prejudice against Frankie's Northern Irish father makes his search for employment in the Republic difficult despite his having fought for the I.R.A., and when he does find money, he spends it on drink.
The Hopes of a Mother. The Dreams of a Father. The Fate of a Child.
Director: Alan Parker
Writers: Frank McCourt, Laura Jones, Alan Parker
Stars: Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle, Joe Breen
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0145653/
tt0145653
child, labor, boy, boys, irish, ireland, based on autobiography, twins, great depression, brother, sister, relationship, 1940s, 1940
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:01:46Look at you.
00:01:47Look at you.
00:01:48So gross.
00:01:49What is it?
00:01:51It's a beautiful wee girl, Mrs. Liebowitz.
00:01:53After four boys.
00:01:54Can you believe it?
00:01:55A wee girl.
00:01:56After four boys, can you believe it?
00:01:59A wee girl.
00:02:01What name is it, Malachy?
00:02:03It's Margaret Mary.
00:02:05Ah, she's so beautiful, Minnie.
00:02:08Brown hair and blue eyes.
00:02:11Just like her mom.
00:02:14Beautiful wee thing.
00:02:17Aren't she?
00:02:19Come on, Eugene.
00:02:23Oliver, come on fast.
00:02:25Eugene, come on.
00:02:27Stop crying.
00:02:28Give her a hug.
00:02:30Don't cry, Eugene.
00:02:33Don't cry, Oliver.
00:02:35Hey, Eugene, look at my bum.
00:02:37Malachy, stop showing your bum.
00:02:39I'm only trying to make him laugh.
00:02:41Come on, Oliver.
00:02:42Come on.
00:02:53I'm sweet Jesus in heaven, Malachy.
00:03:15She's a little quiet, Angela.
00:03:27You look cold.
00:03:41I'm sorry.
00:03:42Come on.
00:03:44I've got this.
00:03:46This is Leibovitz.
00:03:51Everyone loved little Margaret.
00:03:54Everyone loved little Margaret.
00:04:08Dad said there must have been a holiday in heaven the day this baby was made.
00:04:12Dad said he would get a job soon, so he will,
00:04:15and buy her dresses of silk and shoes with silver buckles.
00:04:19Poor little Margaret.
00:04:20Just a few days in this world, and she was taken back by the same angels who brought her here.
00:04:40Me dad said he was going for cigarettes, and the twins just screamed and screamed.
00:04:45Thank God for Mrs. Leibovitz, who lived upstairs.
00:04:50What happened to you, huh?
00:04:58Where's your mother?
00:04:59What do you want?
00:05:00We've got no dinner.
00:05:09Come on, Angela.
00:05:11You have to eat.
00:05:12Good, good, good, good.
00:05:14Oh my God! The children are naked, do you?
00:05:35Where did Angela get such filthy habits?
00:05:38Her mother was always spotless.
00:05:44The stink is awful.
00:05:46It's the twins, their arses are shitty.
00:05:48It's a mouth like a sewer you have.
00:05:50No wonder, with a father from the north of Ireland,
00:05:52with his funny manner and his protestant ways,
00:05:54you could go to hell, say anything like that.
00:05:56Where is your father, anyway?
00:05:58He went for cigarettes.
00:06:00Two days ago.
00:06:01Two days?
00:06:02I'll break his face, I swear.
00:06:09A paper and a pen, Delia.
00:06:11We have a letter to write.
00:06:14My aunts wrote to my mam's mother to send money for the tickets.
00:06:31We must have been the only Irish family in history
00:06:34to be saying goodbye to the Statue of Liberty instead of hello.
00:06:38We were going back to Ireland, where there was no work
00:06:43and people were dying of the starvation and the damp.
00:06:47It made no sense to me.
00:06:49But what did I know?
00:06:51I was only five going on six.
00:06:53I was only five going on six.
00:06:54I was only five going on six.
00:06:56And I was only four going on seven stars.
00:06:57Now I went on six for eight million years.
00:06:58I was only five going on six stars.
00:06:59Yet the videolit certificate,
00:07:02does not show back to him the sky.
00:07:03Well, there was only 13 four out of Pei,
00:07:05I i were featured at Bloomin'
00:07:14I'll take him to the lavatories and I'm off to see the IRA man for me money.
00:07:43Francis, you can come with me for the company.
00:07:45I've been needing him to help you here.
00:07:47And when I've been needing him to help me carry all that money.
00:07:50All right, Frankie, you can go with your pap.
00:07:53Malachy!
00:07:54Malachy, don't go to the lavatory there, son.
00:07:57I can't stop!
00:07:58He's coming out!
00:08:00Dad, Dad, wait for me. I want to go.
00:08:07No record.
00:08:09But I did my bit for Ireland.
00:08:11I fought with a flying column during the Troubles.
00:08:14I had a price in my head.
00:08:16I had to be smuggled to America.
00:08:20There's no record of your service here. None.
00:08:23But I have a wife and four children. I'm raising my sons to love Ireland.
00:08:26Look.
00:08:31Please.
00:08:35We have nothing.
00:08:37I'm sorry.
00:08:38We can't be handing out money to every man who wanders in here saying he did his bit for Ireland.
00:08:44I look into your claim.
00:08:46I let you know what turns up.
00:08:49Here's money for the bus back into the city.
00:08:52Couldn't add to that to make the price of a pint, could you?
00:08:56It's the drink you're after, is it?
00:08:59One pint is hardly a drink.
00:09:01You'd make that child walk back into Dublin because you're after a pint?
00:09:04Remember this, Francis.
00:09:07This is a new Ireland.
00:09:09We men and wee chairs with wee bits of paper.
00:09:12I think you should leave.
00:09:14Declan, the door.
00:09:15Don't bother coming back.
00:09:16This is the Ireland men died for, is it?
00:09:19Come on, Frankie.
00:09:20Free my arse.
00:09:22We're not handing out money to support the Guinness family.
00:09:25He wanted to marry her after the King of Sicily.
00:09:32But the beautiful young Wilga Fortis, she didn't want to marry no scally old man, did she?
00:09:40So, she prayed to God for help.
00:09:43And do you know what he did, Frankie?
00:09:45No, what did he do?
00:09:46He grew a moustache and a beard on her face.
00:09:48He did.
00:09:49He did.
00:09:55He did.
00:09:56He'd come away from that Peter.
00:09:57He did.
00:09:58Thank you, Franklin.
00:10:04Hey, hey.
00:10:07Hey, there you go, Pa.
00:10:08Ah.
00:10:09All of this, please.
00:10:12We're gonna need you all.
00:10:13I'm telling you, we're kicking you so hard.
00:10:15I'm getting you.
00:10:20There you go, Pa.
00:10:22Oh.
00:10:23All of this, let's see if I can talk to you.
00:10:30Hello, Mum.
00:10:40This is Malachy.
00:10:41This is Gene. Nice to meet you.
00:10:47And Aggie.
00:10:48Hey, Aggie, how are you?
00:10:54Pat.
00:10:57Hi, Pat.
00:11:07What are you staring at?
00:11:09Nothing.
00:11:15Grandma said she had no room for us in her house,
00:11:17so she gave us ten shillings for two weeks' rent
00:11:19in an upstairs room in Windmill Street,
00:11:21near my mum's sister, Aggie.
00:11:31Will you look at that?
00:11:32I'll take it with.
00:11:33That's it.
00:11:34Why is the man's heart on fire?
00:11:35That's it.
00:11:36It's the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
00:11:38Don't these children know anything about their religion?
00:11:40Oh, Mum, it's different in America.
00:11:43Sacred Heart is everywhere, even in America.
00:11:46There's no excuse for that kind of ignorance.
00:11:49Look, that's the baby Jesus.
00:11:52And if you ever need anything, you should pray to him.
00:11:56Will you tell Jesus that we're hungry?
00:11:58Shut up.
00:11:59What's that?
00:12:00We're hungry.
00:12:01Shut up.
00:12:02.
00:12:18What are you doing here?
00:12:25Mic, mic.
00:12:30Mic.
00:12:31Mic, mac.
00:12:36Mic, mic.
00:12:40Mic.
00:12:41It's the fleas, Angela.
00:12:46The fleas, Angela, they're everywhere. Come on, Malik, out of the bear.
00:12:49Jesus, we'll be getting our breast.
00:12:51Maliky, come on, come on.
00:12:53Take the mattress downstairs.
00:12:55Come on, Maliky, come on.
00:12:56Come on, come on, come on.
00:12:57Come on, get the mattress downstairs.
00:12:59Get the fleas off.
00:13:00The fleas on the floor.
00:13:01Bring it out.
00:13:02Have a hold of it.
00:13:03Sit on the ground.
00:13:05Oh, shit.
00:13:06Oh, God, Maliky.
00:13:07You're surely going to catch your dad out, isn't he?
00:13:09You'll be getting the pneumonia.
00:13:10Me dad said that if a man could jump like a flea,
00:13:13one leap would take him halfway to the moon.
00:13:16The fleas bit the human being.
00:13:17The smell of the blood is too much for them.
00:13:19They're ready for the lunatic asylum.
00:13:20They were brought over by the English
00:13:22to keep us up at night
00:13:23and drive us out of our wits entirely.
00:13:26Because the English knew
00:13:27that the fleas,
00:13:28they multiply faster than the Hindus.
00:13:30What's the matter for, Dad?
00:13:31They do.
00:13:31They do.
00:13:32I wouldn't put it past the English.
00:13:35St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland
00:13:36and the English brought in the fleas
00:13:38and the damp.
00:13:40We loved our dad's stories.
00:13:46Now, wait a minute.
00:13:54I need some coal.
00:13:55I'm going to dock it here from St. Vincent de Paul.
00:14:01Mr. Blaze.
00:14:02Francis, put that down.
00:14:18Don't pick coal off the road.
00:14:21We're not beggars.
00:14:27It's a terrible look.
00:14:28No pride, Frankie.
00:14:33Come on.
00:14:41I can't believe you.
00:14:44This baby's sick
00:14:45and he needs a hot drink.
00:14:47Now, if you're too grand
00:14:48to pick coal off the road,
00:14:50I'm not.
00:14:55Frankie.
00:14:57Malachy!
00:14:58Come on.
00:15:16Okay, come on.
00:15:17Let's go.
00:15:20Oh, shit!
00:15:26Malachy!
00:15:27Come on!
00:15:27Come on!
00:15:27Come on!
00:15:27Come on!
00:15:27Come on!
00:15:27Come on!
00:15:28It's a rabbit she is,
00:15:54that Angela.
00:15:54I don't see why we should be paying for our mistakes.
00:15:58Five born and one gone
00:15:59and so useless
00:15:59she can't even scrub a floor.
00:16:01Go easy with the sugar.
00:16:02We're not millionaires.
00:16:03She was always angry,
00:16:04was Aunt Aggie.
00:16:06Me dad said that it was a good thing
00:16:07she didn't own the stable in Bethlehem
00:16:09or the holy family
00:16:10would be wandering the world
00:16:11still crumbling with hunger.
00:16:13I swear the skinny fella
00:16:15is the image of his father.
00:16:16Aye, with the odd look
00:16:17and the sour puss and all.
00:16:20Well, I think this fella likes me.
00:16:22It's Al Jolson,
00:16:23he thinks I am.
00:16:24I think we'll keep this little fella.
00:16:25No, he's our brother.
00:16:27That's you, Jim.
00:16:28You can't keep him.
00:16:30Don't bother.
00:16:31I wouldn't want anything
00:16:32that was half limerick
00:16:33and half north of Ireland.
00:16:34Oh, you should be so lucky.
00:16:36Don't worry,
00:16:36I'll have me own someday.
00:16:38I have to crawl to Lourdes
00:16:39on me two bended knees.
00:16:40Why did you bang your foot?
00:16:42Show me your foot.
00:16:42No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
00:16:44I'll go down to Thompson's, The Undertaker's.
00:17:14And to see about the coffin and the carriage, the St. Vincent de Paul Society will surely
00:17:22pay for that.
00:17:23God knows.
00:17:24God, son of a woman.
00:17:43God, son of a woman.
00:17:53God, son of a woman.
00:17:59Jesus, I said to myself, I have so much gas in me system, it is a great pity to waste it.
00:18:17So I shove a pipe up me arse, light a match to it, and there I have a fine flame ready
00:18:34to boil water with anybody.
00:18:36My English come running from trenches all around to pay me any amount of money to boil
00:18:40that water.
00:18:41That's no story to be telling in the presence of a dead child.
00:18:43It is better than sitting with the long face.
00:18:48I made so much money in the trenches that I was able to bribe the generals, who didn't
00:18:52normally give a fiddler's fart about the Irish, to let me out of the army.
00:18:56And off I went to Paris, where I had a fine time drinking wine with the models and artists,
00:19:01and talk in the lingo.
00:19:02Oui, oui.
00:19:03Do you think that's funny, do you?
00:19:05I had a great time over there.
00:19:08I want to hang that way again.
00:19:09Thank you, sir.
00:19:10Thank you, sir.
00:19:31Thank you, sir.
00:20:01in faith, requiescant in Patris.
00:20:05In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritui Sancti.
00:20:09Amen.
00:20:32I don't know why we can't keep Oliver.
00:20:36I don't know why they sent him away in a box like my sister.
00:20:44It's not right.
00:20:46I wish I could say something to someone.
00:21:01Dad said he was going to the labour exchange to get the dough.
00:21:06He'd be home by noon, he said, and we'd have rashers and eggs and tea.
00:21:16He wasn't home by noon.
00:21:19Or one.
00:21:21Or two.
00:21:23Or any time before the sun went down that day in May.
00:21:31Come here.
00:21:32Stop with that now.
00:21:33Bitch, stop, I said.
00:21:34Bitch, no.
00:21:35You little hooligan.
00:21:36Is that the kind of behaviour you'll brought from a menace?
00:21:38I'm here.
00:21:39I'm here.
00:21:40You are.
00:21:41I'm here.
00:21:42I'm here.
00:21:43You are.
00:21:44You are.
00:21:45I'm here.
00:21:46I'm here.
00:21:47You are.
00:21:48I'm here.
00:21:49I'm here.
00:21:50I'm here.
00:21:51I'm here.
00:21:52You are.
00:21:53I'm here.
00:21:54Fight, fight, fight, fight.
00:21:56Come here.
00:21:57Stop with that now.
00:21:58Bitch, stop, I said.
00:21:59No.
00:22:01You little hooligan.
00:22:02begin. Is that the kind of behavior you brought from America, eh? Is it? Well, you come on
00:22:07with me. I'll put the fighting out of you, boy. My little Yankee doodle, dandy. The masters
00:22:14at Leamy's school all have straps and sticks. They hit you if you don't know that God made
00:22:18the world, or if you don't know the patron saint of Limerick. They hit you if you can't
00:22:23say the Hail Mary in Irish, or if you can't ask for the lavatory pass in Irish. They hit
00:22:27you if you laugh, if you're late, if you talk. One master will hit you if you don't know
00:22:31that Eamon de Valera was the greatest man that ever lived. Another will hit you if
00:22:35you don't know that Michael Collins was the greatest man that ever lived. McCourt!
00:23:01You're a bad Yank, McCourt. What are you? They said we're cowboys and gangsters, sir.
00:23:09I've been joking, sir. No more jokes. It's not their fault they're Yanks. It isn't, sir.
00:23:15You should get down on your two knees every night and give thanks to God that you're not
00:23:18그 seγhourly, Yank. Because if you were Hefenad al Capone himself would be comer to you for instruction.
00:23:23Ow! Ow. Ow. Ow! What'd you say?
00:23:30A big horse now? I know Oliver is dead. Malecki knows Oliver is dead. But
00:23:38little Eugene is only two, and too small to know anything. Malecki and I make him laugh,
00:23:44put pots on our heads, take him to the park, show him the flowers.
00:23:50My dad says Eugene is lucky to have such brothers like me and Malachy.
00:24:09He died anyway.
00:24:11No.
00:24:14Please, God, is this what you want, isn't it?
00:24:30I'm not supposed to question this, am I?
00:24:35You took my son, Oliver.
00:24:41You took his brother, Eugene.
00:24:47You took the beautiful wee sister, Margaret Mary.
00:24:53Dear God above,
00:24:55why did you want the wee children to die?
00:24:59Please, God, don't let Malachy and me and the rest of us be taken off in the box for the hole in the ground,
00:25:11or even Aunt Aggie or Mr. Benson at Leamy School, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Toast.
00:25:27In the name of the Father and of the Holy Toast.
00:25:31The Holy Toast.
00:25:32The Holy Toast.
00:25:37One Last Week.
00:25:38One day.
00:25:39One station.
00:25:41Two days.
00:25:42One day.
00:25:43One day.
00:25:45One day.
00:25:46One day.
00:25:47One day.
00:25:48Why?
00:25:49One day.
00:25:50One day.
00:25:51Two days.
00:25:53Great.
00:25:54One more.
00:25:56One day.
00:25:57One day.
00:25:58I'll be going in a minute, son.
00:26:21No, that's Eugene's coffin.
00:26:24I'll tell mam you put your point on Eugene's coffin.
00:26:26You haven't got a point, mister?
00:26:28Will you wait outside another few minutes, Francis?
00:26:30No!
00:26:31Hey, Jesus, if that was my son, I'd kick his arse from here to County, Cardy.
00:26:35I mean, if a man can't have a point on the day of a funeral,
00:26:39what use is living it all?
00:26:40Okay.
00:26:40Let's go.
00:26:42I'll be right back.
00:27:13I couldn't have spent another minute in that room.
00:27:24I saw me little twins morning, noon and night.
00:27:29If we hadn't have moved, I'd have gone out of my mind and ended up in the lunatic asylum.
00:27:33I'm sorry, but it was only five months ago and before that, I lost my little girl in New York.
00:27:47And of the two boys are here and of one on the way.
00:27:49And now, Mrs. Evans, sit down with you.
00:27:54Thanks.
00:27:59That's a nice coat, you're wearing.
00:28:01Oh, it was given to me by my cousin in Brooklyn. It's not near.
00:28:06McCourt. That's not a Limerick name.
00:28:09Where'd you get a name like that?
00:28:11My husband, sir. He's from the north.
00:28:13Why don't you go to Belfast and see what they can do for you up there?
00:28:20I don't know, sir.
00:28:21Of course you don't know.
00:28:23There's great ignorance in the world.
00:28:25I say, there's a great deal of ignorance in the world.
00:28:33And what do you want from us?
00:28:35There isn't a stick of furniture in the new place.
00:28:38Does your husband have a job?
00:28:40No, sir. He's not at all.
00:28:47We'll give you a docket for a table, two chairs and two beds.
00:28:49You can take it to the second-hand furniture shop in Irish town.
00:28:53Excuse me, sir, but will the beds be second-hand?
00:28:56Of course they will.
00:28:58Only I'm worried about sleeping in beds that people might have died,
00:29:01and especially if they died at the consumption.
00:29:04Beggars can't be choosers, Mrs. McCourt.
00:29:07Beggars can't be choosers, Mrs. McCourt.
00:29:09Thanks.
00:29:11Thanks.
00:29:11Thanks.
00:29:11Thanks.
00:29:11Thanks.
00:30:07Could it be true?
00:30:12Hey.
00:30:13Hey.
00:30:14This is my wife.
00:30:19Who's he?
00:30:21That Francis is Pope Leo the 13th.
00:30:24And he was a great friend of the working mob.
00:30:27You know, I found this in an alley in Brooklyn.
00:30:29And someone's rubbish.
00:30:31No doubt thrown away by some idiot at the no time for the working mob.
00:30:34Oh, what's that stick?
00:30:36Hey.
00:30:37How are you doing?
00:30:39Why are you entering your bucket in our lavatory?
00:30:42Your lavatory, mister.
00:30:43Ah, no.
00:30:44I think you're mistaken there.
00:30:46This here's the lavatory for the whole lane it is.
00:30:48The buckets of a living family get slushed down here every day.
00:30:51And I can tell you, it gets fairly powerful here in the warm weather.
00:30:54So powerful, you'll be calling for a gas mask.
00:30:56So good night to you, missus.
00:30:58Missus.
00:30:59I hope you'll be happy in the house.
00:31:01Thanks very much.
00:31:02And there was this big man when they came along.
00:31:07And we met this woman.
00:31:08And it grew a big, huge beard all over her face.
00:31:11And then they got married.
00:31:12Have we moved again, Frankie?
00:31:13No, they wouldn't go without the puff.
00:31:34Oh, Jesus.
00:31:35Look at the stare he is.
00:31:36Come in.
00:31:37A couple of drowning rats.
00:31:38If they're wet clothes off, dry yourself by the fire.
00:31:39And say hello to your brother, Michael.
00:31:41He's fatter than the baby G.
00:31:43Jesus.
00:31:44He's just the spitting image of a dead little sister with the lovely blue eyes.
00:31:47And that it would be made for just a few windows.
00:31:55Far enough, are you stillstarting this?
00:31:57Long time.
00:31:58Why don't you look good, then we're growing up and we're gathering dear?
00:31:59I mean
00:32:10a real aggressive stare under her.
00:32:11with the lovely blue eyes and the gorgeous eyebrows.
00:32:15Come here.
00:32:15Why are we all upstairs?
00:32:17Well, the downstairs is full of the damp, Francis.
00:32:20It's killing us one by one.
00:32:21I'd love it she could kill us with every class of disease.
00:32:24Ah, you see, it was limerick damp that killed your wee brothers.
00:32:26It'll be nice and dry up here for now
00:32:28and we'll go back downstairs for the springtime.
00:32:29It's like going away on holiday
00:32:31to a nice, warm, foreign place.
00:32:33Like... like Italy.
00:32:35Italy?
00:32:35Ah, we could be in Serrano.
00:32:37Could cut him, we're like.
00:32:39What about the Pope?
00:32:40Ah, sod him.
00:32:41He can stay downstairs in Ireland.
00:32:44Oh, will you look at the state of those children's shoes?
00:32:47I can't go to the St. Vincent for boots.
00:32:49I'm too weak to be standing in the queue.
00:32:51There was a woman from Irish town
00:32:53who had triplets waiting forever in that queue.
00:32:55You know, pride, Angela.
00:32:57Begging like that.
00:32:59What would you do, Mr. Grand Manor?
00:33:01You'd let them go barefoot before you get off your arse,
00:33:03useless feck that you are.
00:33:10Great.
00:33:10Useless feck, is it?
00:33:13We'll see.
00:33:14It's poor I am.
00:33:38It's unlucky.
00:33:42It's unlucky.
00:33:44I am.
00:33:50But it's useless.
00:33:57They're not.
00:33:57They're not.
00:34:23They're, they're not.
00:34:24They're not.
00:34:25Oh, my God!
00:34:53Ouch!
00:34:54Where are your shoes?
00:34:55Don't know, sir.
00:34:56Of course you know, boy.
00:34:58Where are they?
00:34:59Did you know you didn't put on your shoes this morning?
00:35:02Did you come to school without shoes, did you?
00:35:04How many times have you been told about walking the streets
00:35:06on your bare feet?
00:35:07Huh?
00:35:08Thank God I'll put the bare feet out of you, boy.
00:35:20Put them on, boy.
00:35:24Do I hear sneering in this class?
00:35:32Do I hear jeering at another's misfortune?
00:35:36Is there any boy in this class who thinks he's perfect?
00:35:40If so, raise your hands.
00:35:42Is there any boy here now who has money galore to be spending on shoes?
00:35:46Raise your hands.
00:35:48No.
00:35:48There are boys in this class.
00:35:50No.
00:35:52There are boys in this class who have no shoes at all.
00:35:58And it's not their fault.
00:36:00It's not their shame.
00:36:03Our Lord had no shoes.
00:36:07He died shoeless.
00:36:11You don't see him hanging on the cross sporting shoes.
00:36:15Do you, boys?
00:36:16No, sir.
00:36:18What is it you don't see your Lord doing?
00:36:19Hanging on the cross sporting shoes.
00:36:23Hanging on the cross sporting shoes, what?
00:36:25Hanging on the cross sporting shoes, sir.
00:36:30Every day, my dad would look for a job, but somehow he never seemed to get one.
00:36:39Ma'am said it was because of his northern accent.
00:36:43Grandma said it was because of his funny manner.
00:36:45My dad knew those limerick lanes like the back of his hand.
00:37:04He walked them often enough when he couldn't get work and was too ashamed to come home to me ma'am.
00:37:14That's why we loved Easter, because it was at Easter that me dad got his first job.
00:37:21The Dipsy Doodle is a thing to beware.
00:37:28The Dipsy Doodle's gonna get in your head.
00:37:31And if it gets to you, it couldn't be worse.
00:37:34The things you say will all come out in reverse.
00:37:36Don't go up the mind, Mammy.
00:37:39That's the way the Dipsy Doodle works.
00:37:42The Dipsy Doodle is a way to fight.
00:37:45It's almost always at the back of your mind.
00:37:48You never know what's there until it's too late.
00:37:50And then you get in such a terrible state.
00:37:53The rude job, just go with it, yeah.
00:37:55Well, maybe if you want strangling, I'll wait the time.
00:37:59When you think you're crazy, you're the thing we want to get to.
00:38:03It was only at the Limerick Cement Factory, but he still wore a collar and tie.
00:38:07He said a man without a tie had no respect for himself.
00:38:20Come on.
00:38:21Come on.
00:38:22Come on.
00:38:23Come on.
00:38:25Good morning.
00:38:26Come on.
00:38:28Come on.
00:38:29Come on.
00:38:30에.
00:38:31In Mount George Shale
00:38:41One Monday morning
00:38:43High upon the gallows train
00:38:48Kevin Barry gave his young life
00:38:53For the cause of liberty
00:38:56My days are safe boys
00:38:58Put a suck in it
00:38:59I'm supposed to have to go
00:39:00If I fit your work in the morning
00:39:01Yet there's no one can deny
00:39:06As he walked to death that morning
00:39:11He proudly held his hand
00:39:14His hand up high
00:39:20Francis!
00:39:27Margie!
00:39:29Come down here boys
00:39:38I have the Friday penny for you
00:39:40Look boys
00:39:46Those red branch knights
00:39:50Those fenian men
00:39:52The glorious IRA
00:39:55Up!
00:39:57Up!
00:39:58Up!
00:40:00Up!
00:40:02I have the Friday penny for you, boys.
00:40:25You line up like soldiers now
00:40:27and promise to die for Ireland.
00:40:29I don't want this.
00:40:32I don't want it either.
00:40:47When we woke up the next morning, he was still asleep.
00:40:50He missed work and lost his job.
00:40:59And what do I have here, Clarassie?
00:41:19Strips of newspapers, sir.
00:41:21And what do they represent, Clarassie?
00:41:24Pieces of the Limerick Leader, sir.
00:41:26No!
00:41:28The body and blood of Christ.
00:41:31If you don't pay more attention,
00:41:33it'll be the last rite you'll be getting,
00:41:34not your Holy Communion.
00:41:38Irish is the language of patriots,
00:41:41in English of traitors and informers.
00:41:45But Latin aboies Latin
00:41:47that the holy martyrs spoke before expiring
00:41:51in the foaming mouths of ravenous lions.
00:41:54Yes, it's Latin that gains entrance to heaven itself.
00:41:59But there are boys in this class
00:42:00who will never know sanctifying grace.
00:42:05And why?
00:42:06Because of greed.
00:42:08Those greedy little blaggards are talking even now
00:42:11about the money they'll get from their collection.
00:42:13They'll go from house to house
00:42:16in their little suits, like beggars.
00:42:20And will they take any of that money
00:42:21and send it to the poor black babies in Africa
00:42:24as they should?
00:42:26Oh, no.
00:42:28And off to the cinema
00:42:30the First Communion boys will go
00:42:33to wallow in the disgusting filth
00:42:37spewed across the world
00:42:40by the devil's henchmen
00:42:42in Hollywood.
00:42:46Isn't that right, McCourt?
00:42:48Jesus, sir.
00:42:49Don't speak, you!
00:42:51Can't you see that God is on your tongue?
00:42:54Where does God, boys?
00:42:56On his tongue, sir.
00:42:59On his tongue.
00:43:01My friend, Mikey Molloy
00:43:06tells us all about
00:43:07how much money we'll make
00:43:08at the collection
00:43:09after our First Communion
00:43:11when we all knock
00:43:12on the neighbours' doors
00:43:13and get as much as five shillings
00:43:15for sweets and cakes
00:43:16and even go to the Lyric Cinema
00:43:17to see James Cagney.
00:43:19I've seen it three times already.
00:43:21What happens in here?
00:43:22Also, Mikey is the expert
00:43:24in the lane on girls' bodies
00:43:26and dirty things in general.
00:43:28Now, up top,
00:43:29the girls have great floppy things
00:43:31called Diddy's
00:43:31and at the end of them
00:43:33great red things
00:43:34like dogs' noses
00:43:35and down at the bottom,
00:43:36now that's an entirely
00:43:37different matter,
00:43:39they don't have a Mickey
00:43:39down there.
00:43:40No, none at all.
00:43:41What do they have?
00:43:42Well, I can tell you this
00:43:44but I don't think
00:43:45he should hear it.
00:43:46Malachy, go away.
00:43:47Mm-hmm.
00:43:51Ew.
00:43:52Ew.
00:44:01Ew, ew.
00:44:22ulen,
00:44:22folder,
00:44:24In the name of Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
00:44:36Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. This is my first confession.
00:44:40Yes, my child. And what sins have you committed?
00:44:44I told a lie. I hate my brother. I stole a penny from my mother's purse, and I ate a sast on Friday.
00:44:50Yes, my child. Anything else?
00:44:52I listen to dirty things about girls from the lanes who don't care what they do, because they've already done it with their brothers.
00:45:03And who told you these things?
00:45:05Mikey Malloy, Father.
00:45:07For your penance, say three Hail Marys, three Our Fathers, and say a special prayer for me.
00:45:13Am I one of the worst boys, Father?
00:45:15No, my child. You have a long way to go.
00:45:18Wake up! Wake up!
00:45:24His First Communion, the happiest day of his life, and a lot of you is still snoring in there.
00:45:30Here, you two. Get up. Get up. Go on.
00:45:33How could I stay with him? The bar is so bumbley last time.
00:45:36Ah, of the Red Rock!
00:45:38It's where it's the Northern Ireland in you. It attracts the dirt.
00:45:42It's the dirty gob of your father.
00:45:43Ah! That's cold!
00:45:47Jesus. You have enough dirt in your ears to grow potatoes.
00:45:52Will you look at that mop?
00:45:54It won't lie down.
00:45:56You didn't get this hair from our side of the family.
00:45:59This is Northern Ireland hair you got from your father.
00:46:02It's like what you'd see on a Presbyterian.
00:46:05Will you stop spitting on me?
00:46:10A little spit won't kill you.
00:46:13If your mother had married a proper decent limerick man,
00:46:16you wouldn't have stand-up north of Ireland Protestant hair,
00:46:20and we wouldn't be late.
00:46:21Yes.
00:46:21Yes.
00:46:35Corpus Christi.
00:46:44Corpus Christi.
00:46:52Corpus Christi.
00:47:00Stop your truck and get back to your seat.
00:47:02Corpus Christi.
00:47:15Ma'am, can I go down and make the collection?
00:47:17I want to go to the nurse to see James Cagney.
00:47:19No, you can't make the collection
00:47:21until you've had a proper First Communion breakfast at my house.
00:47:25Ma'am.
00:47:26Yes.
00:47:32Look at him.
00:47:39The manners of a pig.
00:47:40He eats like a Presbyterian.
00:47:42Is it a millionaire you think I am?
00:47:44An American.
00:47:46Is there any more tea in the pot, ma'am?
00:47:48No.
00:47:49I could do with a cup myself.
00:47:51You all right, Frankie?
00:47:53What's the matter, Frankie?
00:47:55What's wrong with that child?
00:47:56Look what he did.
00:48:02He's thrown off the body and blood of Jesus.
00:48:04What am I to do?
00:48:05I have garden in that yard.
00:48:15I've taken you to the Lord.
00:48:16There was a drinking King you did in my backyard.
00:48:19In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
00:48:27Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It's been a day since my last confession.
00:48:31A day? And what sins have you committed in a day, my son?
00:48:35I overslept, and I nearly missed my first communion.
00:48:38My here's the cup like a Protestant's, and I threw up my first holy communion breakfast.
00:48:43Now my grandma says she is God in her backyard, and what shall she do?
00:48:47Tell your grandma to wash it away with a little water.
00:48:55Holy water, or ordinary water?
00:48:57He didn't say, Grandma.
00:48:59Well, go back and ask him.
00:49:07In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
00:49:11Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It's been a minute since my last confession.
00:49:14A minute. Are you the boy that was just here?
00:49:18I am, Father.
00:49:19What is it now?
00:49:21My grandma says, holy water or ordinary water.
00:49:28He says ordinary water, and don't go bothering him again.
00:49:32Bothering him?
00:49:34With the ignorant old bug throtter.
00:49:35There wasn't any time for the collection.
00:49:40Not a penny.
00:49:42So Mikey Malloy pretended to have one of his fits,
00:49:45so that I could slip in when no one was looking.
00:49:47Miss Squishy's having a face, will you all right?
00:49:50Mr. Malloy, quick!
00:49:51The
00:50:07Wow, no you won't.
00:50:08You got your last chance, I Spirit.
00:50:10We'll take this with you.
00:50:11I never let go those people.
00:50:12All you had to do was fuck New York.
00:50:14The
00:50:17I'm glad I did the first communion.
00:50:30I'm glad I got my first confession over and done with.
00:50:33Now I'm free to grow up.
00:50:35Old enough to be ten anyway.
00:50:38Old enough to pay the ultimate penance for growing up.
00:50:41Worse than joining the army or the police,
00:50:43or going to Australia, or becoming a nun in Africa.
00:50:46Worse than that.
00:50:48I had to learn Irish dancing.
00:51:06Lift up your feet with the love of Jesus.
00:51:08Up, one, two, three, and one, two, three,
00:51:10and up and back and one, two, three,
00:51:12and up and back and one, two, three.
00:51:14If me mate saw me making a pure eejit out of meself
00:51:17at the Irish dancing, I'd be disgraced forever.
00:51:19I want to be Fred Astaire.
00:51:22Irish dancers look like they have steel rods dug up their arses.
00:51:25Would you stop the frowning Frankie McCourt
00:51:27to have a face on you like a pound of tripe?
00:51:28And up and back and one, two, three, and up and back and one, two, three,
00:51:31and up and back and...
00:51:32Oh!
00:51:35The next time I went to dancing lessons,
00:51:37I bumped into Paddy Clossey.
00:51:40Hi Frankie!
00:51:41How are you Paddy?
00:51:41How are you doing?
00:51:42Not to burn you.
00:51:43Grand.
00:51:44Catch.
00:51:45Okay.
00:51:45Frankie, I'm telling you,
00:51:47that dancing stuff is for sissies.
00:51:49You won't be able to play football next.
00:51:50I won't?
00:51:51No, you'll be running around all girly-like.
00:51:53Sure.
00:51:53Everyone will be laughing at you.
00:51:55The will?
00:51:56Yeah.
00:51:57Next thing you'll be in the kitchen,
00:51:58knitting socks.
00:51:59Oh, no.
00:52:08I was finished with the dancing.
00:52:11Every Saturday,
00:52:12me mam's sixpence got me and Paddy into the Lyric
00:52:14with enough left to stuff our gobs with Cleve's toffee.
00:52:23I was so happy I didn't know whether to shit or go blind.
00:52:37Every week I'd take the money and skip the dancing
00:52:39and go to the pictures.
00:52:41When I got home,
00:52:42I'd make up the dancing
00:52:43and pretend I had a poker stuck up me arse.
00:52:47Then Hitler shows himself in his true colonel
00:52:50who marches his troops into the Rhineland
00:52:52in decoyance of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
00:52:58Sir, what use is Euclid
00:53:06when the Germans are bombing everything in sight?
00:53:08What use is Euclid?
00:53:11Without Euclid,
00:53:13the Messerschmitt could never have taken to the sky
00:53:15and dart from cloud to cloud
00:53:18and bomb the bejesus out of the English
00:53:21who deserve it
00:53:22after what they did to the Irish for 800 years.
00:53:26Euclid is grace
00:53:27and beauty
00:53:29and elegance.
00:53:31Do you understand that, boys?
00:53:33We do, sir.
00:53:34We do, sir.
00:53:35I doubt it.
00:53:38To love Euclid
00:53:38is to be alone in this world.
00:53:40You,
00:53:44Closie,
00:53:45who stood at the foot of the cross
00:53:46when our Lord was crucified?
00:53:50The Twelve Apostles, sir.
00:53:53Closie,
00:53:53what is the Irish word for fool?
00:53:56Armadon, sir.
00:53:58Sir,
00:53:59I know who stood at the foot of the cross, sir.
00:54:02It was the Three Mary, sir.
00:54:04That's Fintan Slattery.
00:54:06He's going to be a saint
00:54:07when he gets older.
00:54:09Everyone knows
00:54:10he wears his sister's blouse at night
00:54:11and curls his hair
00:54:12with hot iron tongs
00:54:14so that he'll look gorgeous
00:54:15at Mass on Sundays.
00:54:17It's no wonder
00:54:18we played truant.
00:54:19Of all the birds
00:54:21I've known
00:54:22in our notion
00:54:23Until I first met you
00:54:25I was lonesome
00:54:26And when you came inside me
00:54:28My heart's delight
00:54:29And this whole world
00:54:31seemed to me
00:54:32You're very sure
00:54:33I have to admit you
00:54:35You have expressions
00:54:36that's really sweet
00:54:37Hurry up Frankie
00:54:38Get a hold of me
00:54:39And so I've racked my brain
00:54:40Hoping to explain
00:54:41All the things
00:54:42that you do to me
00:54:44I need this to tell
00:54:47Please let me explain
00:54:50Frankie
00:54:52There's nothing in the world
00:54:53like a goat feed apples
00:54:54and a drink of water
00:54:56and a goat shit
00:54:57and plenty of grass
00:54:58to wipe your ass with
00:54:59Again I'll explain
00:55:02Paddy, quick
00:55:02wipe your ass
00:55:04Sneaking time
00:55:05You wait
00:55:06Frankie, wait
00:55:07Frankie, wait
00:55:07Frankie, you're doing it wrong
00:55:11Shut up
00:55:11Shut up
00:55:12Shut up
00:55:14Shut up
00:55:15Shut up
00:55:16Frankie, shut up
00:55:17I said it was no
00:55:18Hey, get up
00:55:20You bastard
00:55:21I'll give you such a kick
00:55:22in the hole
00:55:23You won't know
00:55:24I'll get you
00:55:25Mikey Molloy persuaded us
00:55:29to go to Peter Dooley's house
00:55:30Peter Dooley has a hump
00:55:32like the one Charles Lawton
00:55:33had in the hunchback
00:55:34of Notre Dame
00:55:35That's why they call him
00:55:37Quasimodo
00:55:37Oh and he has these
00:55:39four sisters
00:55:40with the enormous breasts
00:55:42Okay
00:55:45It's a shilling for the three of you
00:55:46You climb up the spout
00:55:48and each of you
00:55:48have a look
00:55:49But no wanking
00:55:50I have my own sisters
00:55:51Why should I pay to see
00:55:52your naked sisters?
00:55:53Because looking at your own
00:55:54naked sisters
00:55:55is the worst thing of all
00:55:56Not even a bishop in the world
00:55:58could forgive you for it
00:55:58What can you see?
00:56:02Oh, it's grand
00:56:03Can you see their tits, Mikey?
00:56:05Oh
00:56:05Poor Quasimodo
00:56:27He was right
00:56:28Gawking at your own naked sisters
00:56:31is the worst sin of all
00:56:32Except when you charge a shilling
00:56:34for the pleasure
00:56:35That's worse still
00:56:36In tribal
00:56:38and
00:56:39al tari day
00:56:40and then you say
00:56:41Ad diem quillatbicat
00:56:43juventurum meam
00:56:45Right
00:56:45Al tribal
00:56:46and
00:56:47al tari day
00:56:48and then you say
00:56:49Ad diem quillatbicat
00:56:51juventurum meam
00:56:52Very good, again
00:56:53In tribal
00:56:54and
00:56:54Ad diem quillatbicat
00:56:57juventurum meam
00:56:58Hello
00:56:59How are you?
00:57:00Um
00:57:01This is my
00:57:02son Francis
00:57:03and
00:57:04he can recite the latin
00:57:05and he's ready to be an altar boy
00:57:07Ad diem quillatbicat
00:57:08I'm sorry we have no rule
00:57:09No room, mate
00:57:22Sacred stone
00:57:28said there was no room for him
00:57:29I'll tell you what it is
00:57:43It is class distinction
00:57:46They don't want the boys from the lanes at the altar
00:57:52They don't want the ones with the scabby knees and their asses hanging out of their trousers
00:57:57They want the boys with the nice shoes and the clean hair and the fathers with the steady jobs
00:58:05Not useless like you
00:58:06Not useless like you
00:58:08That's what it is
00:58:11That's what it is
00:58:11And it's hard to hang on to your faith
00:58:17You buy pints for people you don't know who tell you're a grand man while your children are at home with their bellies stuck to the back bones
00:58:45You're right
00:58:49I'll get a job
00:58:52I promise
00:58:53If you get a job you lose it the third week because you drink all the wages and you miss the work
00:58:59I'll get a job
00:59:01Goodbye Angela
00:59:02I'll change
00:59:05The dole is 19 shillings and the rent is six and that leaves 13 shillings to feed and clothe five people
00:59:14God is good you know
00:59:21God might be good for someone somewhere but he hasn't been seen lately in the lanes of Limerick
00:59:28Oh Angela
00:59:32You could go to hell for saying that
00:59:37I'm not there already Malky
00:59:43Come here come here
00:59:47Come here
00:59:49Come here
00:59:51Come here
00:59:52Come here
00:59:53Come here
00:59:54Come here
00:59:55Come here
00:59:56Come here
00:59:57Come here
00:59:58Come here
00:59:59Come here
01:00:00Come here
01:00:01Come here
01:00:02Come here
01:00:03Come here
01:00:04Come here
01:00:05Come here
01:00:06Come here
01:00:07Come here
01:00:08Come here
01:00:09Come here
01:00:10Come here
01:00:11Come here
01:00:12Come here
01:00:13Come here
01:00:14Come here
01:00:15Come here
01:00:16Come here
01:00:17Come here
01:00:18Come here
01:00:19Come here
01:00:20Come here
01:00:21Come here
01:00:22Come here
01:00:23Come here
01:00:24Come here
01:00:25Come here
01:00:26Come here
01:00:27Come here
01:00:28Come here
01:00:29Come here
01:00:30Come here
01:00:31Come here
01:00:32Come here
01:00:33Come here
01:00:34Come here
01:00:48Come here
01:00:49Now you know what it feels like.
01:00:52At least my grandpa in the north sent us five pounds for the baby Alfie.
01:00:57All right, boys.
01:00:59You go home and tell your mother I'll be back in a few minutes.
01:01:02You're not going to the pub, Dad.
01:01:04Mom said you're to bring home the money.
01:01:05You're not stringed the pines.
01:01:07Now, listen.
01:01:09You go home to your mother now.
01:01:11Dad, give us the money.
01:01:13That money's for the new baby.
01:01:15Dad!
01:01:17Please, Dad.
01:01:19Go home.
01:01:36Will you come in here, Frankie?
01:01:42I want you to go down to south the pub.
01:01:44And I want you to stand in the middle of the pub
01:01:46and tell every man that your father is drinking the money for the baby.
01:01:51You're to tell the world that there's not a scrap of food in the house.
01:01:54There's not a lump of coal for the fire.
01:01:56There's not even a drop of milk for the baby's bottle.
01:02:06Oh, come on.
01:02:07Oh, come on.
01:02:15Oh, come on.
01:02:25My name is the world for you, and the green glands of Andrew are welcome.
01:02:37And if you only knew how the light of the moon...
01:02:43My heart is banging away, and all I can think of doing is giving him a good kick in the leg and running away.
01:02:49But I don't.
01:02:50Because I remember all the nice times he sat me by the fire and told me his stories of Coo Cullen, Roosevelt and De Valera.
01:03:03Later he'll be home singing and offering us a penny to die for Ireland.
01:03:08It'll be different now, because it's bad enough to drink the dole or the wages.
01:03:13But a man who drinks the money for a new baby is gone beyond the beyonds.
01:03:20Saying I wasn't enough ashovah isole.
01:03:23It'll be different right now.
01:03:28I couldn't find him.
01:03:29Go to bed, Frankie.
01:03:31Mum, I couldn't find him.
01:03:41Go to bed, Frankie.
01:03:54With confirmation, you will become true soldiers of the church.
01:04:01That entitles you to die a martyr
01:04:05in the event we're invaded by Protestants or Mohammedans
01:04:09or any other class of heathen.
01:04:13You will have the gifts of the Holy Ghost.
01:04:16Wisdom, understanding, counsel.
01:04:21What is the third station of the cross, my child?
01:04:24Jesus was for the first time.
01:04:31What is the fourth commandment, my child?
01:04:33Honor thy father and thy mother.
01:04:40You're right, Frankie.
01:04:43The Holy Ghost of the Holy Ghost of the Holy Ghost of the Holy Ghost.
01:04:53Father Guri is touching me with oil and praying, and that means I'm going to die.
01:05:14But I don't care.
01:05:23And then Dr. Campbell came in and held my hand.
01:05:26It was then that I knew I was going to get better.
01:05:33Because a doctor would never fart in the presence of a dying boy.
01:05:47They gave me a whole new body full of blood.
01:05:50Sister Rita said it came from a soldier at Sarsfield Barracks.
01:06:09Oh, son.
01:06:12You're a grand old soldier.
01:06:15What's wrong with me?
01:06:17You've had to tie for it.
01:06:27Don't go.
01:06:30Hey.
01:06:31You're going to be a big boy now.
01:06:34Don't forget you've got soldier's blood in you.
01:06:36Hey.
01:06:41You're over the worst of it.
01:06:43Soon be home to Sorrento.
01:06:44That was the first time my dad ever kissed me.
01:07:04I felt so happy I could have floated out of the bed.
01:07:07Every day I couldn't wait for the doctors and nurses to leave me alone so that I could read my books.
01:07:29I loved having a lavatory of my own where I could read for hours and hours.
01:07:34To die, to sleep, to sleep or chance to dream.
01:07:38Aye, there's the room.
01:07:40Frankie, are you dead?
01:07:42It's the grand Seamus.
01:07:43It's Shakespeare.
01:07:44I loved the Shakespeare.
01:07:46It was like having jewels in your mouth when you said the words.
01:07:50I do believe, induced by potent circumstances, that thou art mine enemy.
01:07:55I do believe, induced by potent circumstances, that thou art mine enemy.
01:08:01I do believe, induced by potent circumstances, that thou art mine enemy.
01:08:06But I miss me mum and dad and Malachy and little Michael and the baby Alfie.
01:08:15God knows why.
01:08:16Frankie, will you hurry up now?
01:08:18Bye.
01:08:19It was a happy day when I finally went home.
01:08:22Good man, Frankie.
01:08:49Ah, Francis, my boy.
01:08:57But the moment I saw me dad with little Alfie on his lap, there's an empty feeling in my heart,
01:09:02because I know he's out of work again.
01:09:04Welcome home, son.
01:09:10God, it's good to see you.
01:09:12You too.
01:09:12But still, I loved having my dad to myself in the morning.
01:09:24I loved his stories where motorcars and planes went underwater,
01:09:28submarines flew up in the air,
01:09:30and polar bears wrestled with elephants on the moon.
01:09:33He was the Holy Trinity, was my dad, with three people in him.
01:09:36The one in the morning with his tea and woodbines telling us the stories.
01:09:41The one who tried so hard to find work but never did.
01:09:52And the one who came home at night with the smell of whiskey on him.
01:09:55But he was reading all the time he was at the hospital.
01:10:18I'm sorry, Mrs. McCourt.
01:10:19He's missed over two months at school.
01:10:21He'll have to go back to the fifth class.
01:10:24I'm really very sorry.
01:10:48Mom, I don't want to go back to fifth class.
01:10:53Maliky's in fifth class, and I'm a year older than him.
01:10:55Oh, come on, Frankie.
01:10:57But all me friends are laughing at me because of me put back.
01:11:00Psh.
01:11:10What I needed was a miracle,
01:11:12and it happened right there,
01:11:14outside the Our Lady of Liberty pub.
01:11:15I looked up at her.
01:11:18She smiled.
01:11:19And when I looked down, there was a penny.
01:11:38I spent the penny on a candle,
01:11:40and prayed to St. Francis for him to get me out of my little brother's class.
01:11:44Take that sour look off your puss, Francis McCourt,
01:11:51or you will feel the end of my stick.
01:11:54Francis McCourt is going to show you
01:11:56how well he learned to write in this class last year.
01:12:01He's going to write a composition on Our Lord.
01:12:04Aren't you, McCourt?
01:12:05He's going to tell us what it would be like
01:12:09if Our Lord had grown up in Limerick,
01:12:11the holiest city in Ireland.
01:12:14I believe you will be sad.
01:12:15What did you know our Lord had to grow in the city?
01:12:17The city?
01:12:18But the gift of the old brothers
01:12:19is best for not trying to understand the old man.
01:12:24Oh.
01:12:25I'm a cunt, but where you go?
01:12:27I'm a cunt!
01:12:27They said that Limerick was the holiest city, but everyone knew the reason why there were always people in the churches.
01:12:40It was because it was always raining, and they were in there to get out of the wet.
01:12:45The name of my composition is...
01:12:47Title, McCourt. The title.
01:12:51The title of my composition is Jesus and the Weather.
01:12:54What?
01:12:55Jesus and the Weather, sir.
01:12:59All right. Read it.
01:13:02I don't think Jesus, who is our Lord, would have liked the weather in Limerick, because it's always raining, and the Shannon keeps the whole city damp.
01:13:10My father says the Shannon is a killer river, because it killed my two brothers.
01:13:15When you look at pictures of Jesus, he's always wandering around ancient Israel in a sheet.
01:13:20It never rains there, and you never hear of anyone coughing, or getting their consumption, or anything like that.
01:13:28And no one has a job there, because all they do is stand around, eat manna, shake their fists, and go to crucifixions.
01:13:35Any time Jesus got hungry, all he had to do was to walk up the road to a fig tree or an orange tree and have his fill.
01:13:43Or if he wanted a pint, he could wave his hand over a big glass, and there was the pint.
01:13:49Or he could visit Mary Magdalene and our sister Martha, and they'd give him his dinner.
01:13:54No questions asked.
01:13:55So it's a good thing Jesus decided to be born Jewish in that nice, warm place, because if he was born in Limerick, he'd catch the consumption, and be dead in a month, and there wouldn't be any Catholic church, and we wouldn't have the right compositions about him.
01:14:09The end.
01:14:13Did you write this composition, McCord?
01:14:15I did so.
01:14:16The miracle worked.
01:14:22I was back in my old class.
01:14:24Stock your mind.
01:14:26It's your house of treasure, and no one in the world can interfere with it.
01:14:32Fill your mind with rubbish, and it'll rot your head.
01:14:37You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind, your mind is a palace.
01:14:46I'm a court against the boy.
01:14:49He goes on you, man.
01:14:50He goes against the second man.
01:14:53Peggy?
01:14:53No, you can't.
01:14:54Sean?
01:14:56Kathleen, come in for your tea.
01:14:58Come in for the lovely leg of lamb, and the gorgeous green peas, and the florry white potatoes.
01:15:04Ah, shut up, will you, woman?
01:15:07It's a real low-class mind to torment your neighbours when there's nothing but bread and tea we have.
01:15:11Get off to work in England like the rest of our husbands.
01:15:13Go and help England when I war.
01:15:15I wouldn't give the English the steam off my piss.
01:15:17No, you'd rather drink the dole, and watch your sons run around all skin and bone, with the arse hanging out of the trousers.
01:15:24Kathleen, come in for your tea.
01:15:27If I could work, I'd be in the English factories.
01:15:29A factory's no place for a woman.
01:15:32Sitting on your arse is no place for a man.
01:15:34Oh, he's got the ball up him!
Comments