Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes, Richard Harris, Gerry Hannan,

THE LIES OF FRANK McCOURT:
Extracts from discusssion in www.politics.ie - April 2010
http://www.politics.ie/media/86716-frank-mccourt-dies-9.html

Frank McCourt Dies

This is part of a discussion on "Frank McCourt Dies" within the Media forums, part of the General Discussion category on www.Politics.ie Frank McCourt author of Angela's Ashes dies aged 78....

24th July 2009
GERRY.HANNAN
Junior Member

Location: LIMERICK
Posts: 1

<url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-3WoAHV4gY">YouTube - Gerry Hannan Vs. Frank McCourt - Live TV Attack</url>

Let me make it crystal clear from the word 'go' that the McCourt family have my deepest sympathies at the loss of a family member and thats where it begins and ends. I never once had any issue with the late Mr. McCourt other than the inconsistencies in his book where he showed nothing but utter contempt for many people when he relayed untruths about them and thought it was OK to do so because they were dead.

He was wrong. I challenged him on these inaccuracies on Live TV because it was the only chance I ever had to do so and the TV appearance was pre-arranged with Mr. Pat Kenny and his producer Mr. Will Hannafin. They knew long in advance what questions were going to be asked and the tone in which they would be asked and McCourt was previously advised of my appearance. I do concede that they may have been guilty of totally miscalculating the ferocity of my attack.

There is a total of 117 inconsistencies in Angela's Ashes and I can recount all of them at will. However, I have been often asked to name the main points and these are the ones that concern me most.

There are three main points here and they are as follows:

1. McCourt wrote about Willie Harrold that he charged his friends money to watch his (Harrolds) sisters undressing. Harrold had no sisters. This may seem like a minor offence to most people but we must be clear that Mr. Harrold was, in fact, an 'Icon' of the Catholic Church in Limerick and was held in very high esteem by his contemporaries. He was nicknamed the apostle of Limerick and was the only man, of his generation, to be awarded a papal medal for his involvent in the Holy Confraternity Church and his work with the St. Vincent de Paul movement of that time. To suggest that Mr. Harrold was charging children money to masturabate was, to that generation, the equivalent of saying that he was a sick pervert. Nothing could be further from the truth. However, McCourt was misinformed about Harrolds demise and was confronted by Mr. Harrold about the inconsistency at a book signing in Limerick. McCourt apologised and gave a free book, by way of compensation, to Harrold who accepted it because he was a peace loving man who did not wish to tamper with McCourts new found success.

2. McCourt recounted a story involving Teresa Carmody. He says that he called to her house as a Telegram boy (In fact, the Limerick General Post Office have kept records of all employees, full and part time since it's foundation in Limerick and there is no record of McCourt ever being employed there) and she made him undress and performned oral sex on him.Again, to those who know no better a very seemingly harmless tale. The reality is that Teresa Carmody was also known by her contemporaries as 'the little flower of Limerick' and her parents were the owners of a local shop used by Angela McCourt who was refused further credit because she would or could not pay her bills. Little Teresa's mother worked (as McCourt stated in his book) in Woolworths on O'Connell Street when Teresa died of consumption. The people of the Lanes of Limerick were totally united in grief at the loss of such a well known and loved child and they, at least those who were still alive, were horrified to read in Angelas Ashes that she allegedly gave the young Frank a 'blow-job' on her death bed. She still has living relatives in Limerick, I have met them, and they are totally distressed at the horrendous allegation. McCourts explanation is that he 'made the name up'. If thats true and Teresa Carmody is a fictional character then is the 'mother' who worked at Woolworths fictional too?

3. McCourt wrote that he lay in his bedroom listening to his mother 'having the excitement' in the attic with her first cousin Laman (Gerry)Griffin in order to pay the rent. A complete search of all well documented records showed no records of Mr. Griffin sharing accomodation with Mrs. McCourt, he was living with two other women and Angela was documented as being resident at a different address when the 'excitement' event occurred. Mr. Griffin was another Limerick icon and was well known as a member of the Munster Rugby team that won the Bateman Cup in 1933. he was a Limerick hero and we are asked to belive that he was screwing his first cousin for rent. McCourts brother Malachy was refused membership of the Munster Rugby team in the late 1930s.

McCourt had a lot of axes to grind with his book and three Limerick institutions, via their respective 'icons' are attacked here and they are St. Vincent De Paul, Catholic Church and Munster Rugby.

I am happy I challenged him and in the same set of circumstances I would do the same thing again without batting an eyelid. My main critics are, for the most part, are far too young to know the actual facts of the situation and my supporters, for the most part, are McCourts contemporaries including Richard Harris whose family owned and ran the local Mill where many of the residents of the Lanes of Limerick were employed. He granted me a three-hour 'Live-On-Air' interview (I still have the full recording) and endorced every word I ever said about McCourt as being the absolute truth.

My sources are hundreds of listeners who participated in numerous radio shows ( I still have recordings of all these shows) who told me their interpretation of the facts about life on the Lanes of Limerick. I also spoke for many hours with my own Aunt Josephine O'Reilly who was a personal friend of Angela McCourt and went to Bingo with her two or three times a week for many years. Angela was a regular visitor to my family's home on the Lanes of Limerick. I also quoted my late Uncle Martin Hannan who had very clear and precise stories with amazing detail about his life as a friend of the McCourt family. I am a direct descendant of the Hannan family who are heavily featured throughout the text of Angela's Ashes.

I was angered by the 'spirit' of the book and I reacted accordingly. I have no regrets and those who criticise me have every right to do so. I rerspect your right to have an opinion but I also demand the right to have my opionion respected too. I am not looking for endorsement from any other person.

Finally, some people in other threads are questioning my connection to Mr. Frank Hamilton a convicted sex-offender who was named, by McCourts wife (Elizabeth) on the LATE LATE SHOW (October 1999) as having made some kind of contribution to my book ASHES.

I worked as a Journalist in Limerick for many years and was employed in the latter end of my Journalistic career with the short-lived LIMERICK TRIBUNE newspaper and Hamiliton was the Editor. In short, he was my boss prior to the revelations about his crimes. He also worked at RADIO LIMERICK ONE as a newscaster and broadcaster and short of talking with him over coffee from time to time there was no other connection. He had no hand, act nor part in my book and I have no idea why Mrs. McCourt would suggest otherwise.

I was also asked why did I decide to post the HANNAN VS MCCOURT footage on Youtube. I did so because I have been many times asked by members of the international media where they could acquire a copy of the footage. I have had this footage for over 10 years and I think it has minor historical signifigance It is there for anybody to see and when I deem it fit I will remove it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Gerard J. Hannan
23.07.2009

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Kilbarry1
Politics.ie Member

Quote: Originally Posted by Kilbarry1
Frank McCourt's contemporaries in Limerick were always well aware that he was telling lies - and said so at the time his book was published. Their words were largely drowned out by a world-wide chorus of adulation from people who knew nothing about Limerick. The following are a few obvious lies from "Angela's Ashes".

* McCourt's childhood classmate Willie Harold is depicted walking to his first confession while ``whispering about his big sin, that he looked at his sister's naked body.' Willie Harold (since deceased) was a real person and had no sister.

* Frank McCourt claims that he worked for a repulsive Catholic moneylender called Mrs. Brigid Finucane who had statues of the Blessed Virgin scattered among her extortionate book-keeping. There was no such person as Brigid Finucane. Nor was Frank McCourt trying to shield her identity by using a false name. I doubt if there were ANY Catholic moneylenders in Limerick on whom she could have been based. There WERE Jewish moneylenders - but McCourt knew he could not get away with anti-Semitism! (In any case it was the Catholic Church that he wanted to defame).

* At the time he was supposed to be working for Brigid Finucane, Frank McCourt was actually working for the late Jackie Brosnan, the owner of a radio and bicycle shop who is not mentioned in the book. Jackie Brosnan had a friend, another businessman named Vincent FINUCANE!

* Frank McCourt claims that his mother had illicit sex with a cousin Gerald Laman Griffin when the family had to move into this man's house after being evicted from their previous home. (Sex was part of the deal presumably). We are told that Laman Griffin was a former pupil of Rockwell College - a famous Catholic secondary school run by the Holy Ghost Fathers. Gerald Laman Griffin never attended Rockwell College. According to a local historian, the McCourts never resided with him!

* Why did Frank McCourt not do another "Mrs Finucane" with this story i.e.use a fictitious name? Presumably because this would make it clear that his book is fiction. He had no alternative but to invent the Mrs. Finucane character because there were no real person that he could plausibly base his lies on. Gerald Griffin has no living relatives in Limerick which may explain why his name was used. In the case of Willie Harold, McCourt just forgot that he had no sister.
EndQuote

I used to wonder what Frank McCourt thought about the savage criminality in Limerick at the times he returned there to be feted, to make a film, to receive a doctorate from the University of Limerick etc. Since he blamed the Catholic Church for his childhood problems, did no journalist ever ask him about the problems of Limerick (and Ireland) TODAY and what is causing them?

I suspect that some journalists DID ask him but his replies were so ludicrous that they covered them up. After all a famous anti-Catholic writer must not be exposed as a fool!

The above sentiments were inspired by the following article by Mary Kenny, that I just came across- in the Irish Independent on 10 May 2008

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/an...-the-rage-amon

A couple of years ago in Listowel I heard Frank McCourt, the celebrated author of Angela's Ashes, express astonishment that there existed in modern Ireland such phenomena as pornography, prostitution and the scandals of rape, incest or paedophile assault.

"I thought all that would disappear when the Irish got modern about sex and stopped being repressed," he said.

How, I wondered, did Frank get to be 75 years old and not yet discover that human nature doesn't change very much? ......

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Kilbarry1
Politics.ie Member

Quote: Originally Posted by Kilbarry1
I used to wonder what Frank McCourt thought about the savage criminality in Limerick at the times he returned there to be feted, to make a film, to receive a doctorate from the University of Limerick etc. Since he blamed the Catholic Church for his childhood problems, did no journalist ever ask him about the problems of Limerick (and Ireland) TODAY and what is causing them?

I suspect that some journalists DID ask him but his replies were so ludicrous that they covered them up. After all a famous anti-Catholic writer must not be exposed as a fool!

The above sentiments were inspired by the following article by Mary Kenny that I just cane across in the Irish Independent on 10 May 2008

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/an...-the-rage-amon

"I thought all that would disappear when the Irish got modern about sex and stopped being repressed," he said.

How, I wondered, did Frank get to be 75 years old and not yet discover that human nature doesn't change very much? ......Endquote

The answer to my query may possibly be found in the following extract from a previous post by Limerick historian Gerry Hannan

QUOTING GERRY HANNAN
There is a total of 117 inconsistencies in Angela's Ashes and I can recount all of them at will. However, I have been often asked to name the main points and these are the ones that concern me most.

There are three main points here and they are as follows:

1. McCourt wrote about Willie Harrold that he charged his friends money to watch his (Harrolds) sisters undressing. Harrold had no sisters. This may seem like a minor offence to most people but we must be clear that Mr. Harrold was, in fact, an 'Icon' of the Catholic Church in Limerick and was held in very high esteem by his contemporaries. He was nicknamed the apostle of Limerick and was the only man, of his generation, to be awarded a papal medal for his involvent in the Holy Confraternity Church and his work with the St. Vincent de Paul movement of that time. To suggest that Mr. Harrold was charging children money to masturabate was, to that generation, the equivalent of saying that he was a sick pervert. Nothing could be further from the truth. However, McCourt was misinformed about Harrolds demise and was confronted by Mr. Harrold about the inconsistency at a book signing in Limerick. McCourt apologised and gave a free book, by way of compensation, to Harrold who accepted it because he was a peace loving man who did not wish to tamper with McCourts new found success.

2. McCourt recounted a story involving Teresa Carmody. He says that he called to her house as a Telegram boy (In fact, the Limerick General Post Office have kept records of all employees, full and part time since it's foundation in Limerick and there is no record of McCourt ever being employed there) and she made him undress and performned oral sex on him.Again, to those who know no better a very seemingly harmless tale. The reality is that Teresa Carmody was also known by her contemporaries as 'the little flower of Limerick' and her parents were the owners of a local shop used by Angela McCourt who was refused further credit because she would or could not pay her bills. Little Teresa's mother worked (as McCourt stated in his book) in Woolworths on O'Connell Street when Teresa died of consumption. The people of the Lanes of Limerick were totally united in grief at the loss of such a well known and loved child and they, at least those who were still alive, were horrified to read in Angelas Ashes that she allegedly gave the young Frank a 'blow-job' on her death bed. She still has living relatives in Limerick, I have met them, and they are totally distressed at the horrendous allegation. McCourts explanation is that he 'made the name up'. If thats true and Teresa Carmody is a fictional character then is the 'mother' who worked at Woolworths fictional too?

3. McCourt wrote that he lay in his bedroom listening to his mother 'having the excitement' in the attic with her first cousin Laman (Gerry)Griffin in order to pay the rent. A complete search of all well documented records showed no records of Mr. Griffin sharing accomodation with Mrs. McCourt, he was living with two other women and Angela was documented as being resident at a different address when the 'excitement' event occurred. Mr. Griffin was another Limerick icon and was well known as a member of the Munster Rugby team that won the Bateman Cup in 1933. he was a Limerick hero and we are asked to belive that he was screwing his first cousin for rent. McCourts brother Malachy was refused membership of the Munster Rugby team in the late 1930s.

McCourt had a lot of axes to grind with his book and three Limerick institutions, via their respective 'icons' are attacked here and they are St. Vincent De Paul, Catholic Church and Munster Rugby.
Endquote

I used to think that Frank McCourt choose the targets of his bile more or less at random e.g. that he thought that Willie Harold was dead and/or forgot that he had no sisters. It is now clear that he was a vicious thug who went out of his way to slander any person or institution in Limerick that ever crossed him. However he is now a Limerick icon who got a honorary degree from the President of the University and has a walking tour of the city in his honour. The Limerick elite are spewing on their own society. No wonder they cannot control the criminals in their midst.

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toughbutfair
Politics.ie Member

I enjoyed Angelas Ashes, it had a good dose of humour to get through the grime (which is probably how the people survived)

Many in Limerick complained that it gave the city a bad name, but my father is old and he said it was that bad for most.

R.I.P

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Kilbarry1
Politics.ie Member

Quote:Originally Posted by toughbutfair
I enjoyed Angelas Ashes, it had a good dose of humour to get through the grime (which is probably how the people survived)

Many in Limerick complained that it gave the city a bad name, but my father is old and he said it was that bad for most.

R.I.P
EndQuote

Do you understand by any chance, why Willie Harold did not like the book? He was alive at the time and confronted McCourt to point out that he had no sisters. Do you also understand why the family of Teresa Carmody did not like it? I think that Laman Griffin has no relatives in Limerick today but I'm sure that they would have had something to say.

Do you really think that "giving the city a bad name" is the main issue here?

I repeat what I said before:

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David Cochrane
Politics.ie Editor

Might be worthwhile to calm down folks, this is a pretty old thread, might be best to leave it be.

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Kilbarry1
Politics.ie Member

Quote: Originally Posted by David Cochrane
Might be worthwhile to calm down folks, this is a pretty old thread, might be best to leave it be.
EndQuote

Very well but I should point out that many Limerick people said the same thing at the time the book was published in 1996. They were usually ignored or sneered at by the media which shared McCourt's attitude to the Catholic Church. It was difficult to ignore Richard Harris however and this is what he said about the McCourt brothers and their mother. (This is from a local radio interview between Harris and Eugene Phelan on 20 January 2000.)

Limerick.com - Richard Harris Angela's Ashes Frank McCourt Interview
I also knew Angela McCourt quite well and I visited her regularly and I spent a lot of time with her and they treated her really badly. The way they spoke about their mother made me very angry.

They had an obvious disdain for their mother and I remember on one occasion in the pub where I grabbed her son Malachy by the neck and shouted that she is your mother and you cannot treat her like this. Malachy's only answer to me was that they were bringing her lots of beer and cigarettes in the hope that she would die because she is costing us rent money.

I believe in my heart that they were willing a death. I found that very offensive to such an extent that I threatened to kill him.

When I met Angela she was in her old age and she was very quiet and once when I was alone with her she told me that she knew that they didn't like her and wanted her dead. She said that they don't like me Dickie, they don't treat me well, they don't want me to be here, I am a nuisance to them and I am no more than a rock around their neck.

Angela told Richard that the boys treated her so badly that she wished she were dead and gone.

Rory Connor - AKA Kilbarry1
7 April 2010

THE LIES OF FRANK McCOURT: Extracts from discusssion in www.politics.ie - April 2010 http://www.politics.ie/media/86716-frank-mccourt-dies-9.html

Frank McCourt Dies

THE LIES OF FRANK McCOURT:
Extracts from discusssion in www.politics.ie - April 2010
http://www.politics.ie/media/86716-frank-mccourt-dies-9.html