A story of humour born of pain, success wrung from adversity and of the steely ambition beneath the affable exterior - Sunday Life

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'What? What is it?'
'You're colour-blind.'
Nothing? Nothing? I was aghast.
'But that could be dangerous. I mean, when I start to drive how will I be able to tell traffic lights?'
'I'll give you a hint, son, the red one is on the forking top.'

Before he became the nation's favourite Mammy, Brendan O'Carroll was known simply as Brendan.

The youngest of ten children from a poor family in Dublin, Brendan left school at the mere age of 12 to begin what would become a long and varied working life. He would go on to be a waiter, a publican, a window cleaner and a publisher amongst other jobs.

Throughout the tough moments, Brendan always had humour and a good story to tell alongside the ever-guiding inspiration of his own Mammy, a formidable figure who became Ireland's first female Labour MP. His hope and determination meant he never gave up, and eventually a chance opportunity to perform stand-up would pave the way for the TV show that would become 'Mrs. Brown's Boys'.

In his own unique voice, Brendan O'Carroll strings together the threads of his life, a helter-skelter story tracing the helter-skelter journey of a scrawny kid from Finglas, Dublin to TV screens around the world, told with warmth, humour, a touch of mischievousness - and more than a few coincidences.
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