An introduction to
Angela’s Ashes:
A Memoir
By Frank McCourt
Frank McCourt
• Born in NYC in 1930
• NYC to Ireland, back to
NYC @ 19
• High School English
teacher
• Pulitzer Prize 1997 for
Angela’s Ashes
• Narrator of Angela’s
Ashes
• He died in 2009
Frank McCourt’s books
• Angela’s Ashes -1996
• T’is - 1999
• Teacher Man – 2005
• Brother Malachy
McCourt also wrote
book A Monk Swimming
A Brief history of
Irish/British conflict
• 1500s Britain
conquered Ireland
• Years of discrimination
against Catholics, Irish
Landowners lost land.
• 1916 - Easter Rising
• 1919-1921 Armed
Rebellion by IRA
• 1922 - Irish Civil War
A Brief History of
Irish/British Conflict
• Civil War begun
after Michael Collins
accepts British
terms.
• Ireland split Northern Protestant
and Southern
Catholic.
Setting
• Brooklyn, New York
• Limerick, Ireland
• Strong Catholic
history
• 1934 - depths of
The Great
Depression
Key Themes
• Coping with adversity – poverty,
bereavement (sadness caused by the
loss of a loved one), hunger, and an
alcoholic father
• Class and religious prejudice
• Guilt
• The power of stories and storytelling
Genre
• Angela’s Ashes: A Memoir
• Non-fiction. i.e. NOT a novel!
• A memoir = type of autobiography
where author records events and
people that shaped his/her life.
• This memoir focuses on Frank
McCourt’s childhood in 1930s-40s
Ireland
McCourt Family
•
•
•
•
Angela, Malachy
Frank
Malachy Jr.
Eugene, Oliver,
Margaret, Michael,
Alphie
Frank’s mother Angela
• The book is named after
her action of staring into
the ashes
• She is from Limerick
• Sacrificial and loving
mother who does all she
can to provide for her
family
Frank’s father Malachy
• From County Antrim, Ulster,
Northern Ireland.
• Majority are Presbyterian as it
had links to Scotland
• Malachy was a member of IRA
• Nationalist
• Often sang of Roddy McCorley,
a protestant nationalist who also
came from County Antrim.
• Alcoholic
• Had a ‘peculiar manner’
• A storyteller
Irish Heroes
Frank’s father will reference these
heroes throughout the memoir.
Kevin Barry
• Kevin Barry was born in Dublin, Ireland
in 1902. In 1920, while attending
college, he took part in a raid, which
ended badly. Three British soldiers were
killed, and Barry was tortured and
hanged in the Mountjoy jail at the age of
eighteen. Barry refused to name his
comrades under torture.
Roddy McCorley
• McCorley was a participant in the Irish
rebellion of 1798. After hiding for nearly
a year, he attempted to flee to the
United States. However, he was
betrayed and captured by British
soldiers. He was executed on February
28, 1800 in the town of Toomebridge
"near the bridge of Toome."
Oliver Cromwell
Frank says that the masters at the Catholic school he
attends are often extremely harsh on the students.
He comments, “If you ever say anything good about
Oliver Cromwell they’ll all hit you.”
Cromwell was an English military leader and politician.
He was also the leader of Irish movements and
took measures against Irish Catholics that
were viewed by many as genocidal. For
these acts, he is generally hated in Ireland.
Angela’s Ashes Trailer
• http://youtu.be/6zLpf1XDNko
What do you know about
immigration in the 1800’s?
• Immigrants flocked to Ellis Island.
• http://youtu.be/eH2hllmZdRg