An introduction to

Angela’s Ashes: A MemoirBy 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 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.