Brendan O’Carroll inspired by his own Mum’s struggle

Brendan O’Carroll says his vivid memories of the struggles his late mother had in providing Christmas presents for her impoverished family have inspired his seasonal philanthropy.

The Mrs Brown’s Boys creator famously donates hundreds of thousands of euros every Christmas to Dublin St Vincent de Paul.

The 59-year-old multi- millionaire said that it’s his own childhood memories of the same organisation calling to his poverty-stricken mother Maureen O’Carroll’s Dublin council house to help her out that taught him the true meaning of Christmas.

He said: “She [Maureen] didn’t always manage it. Not in the way she would hope. And sometimes Christmas was about getting a vest or just a tangerine inside a stocking.

“The look of disappointment on my mother’s face was worse than realising my present was just a satsuma.

“We’d have had no Christmas if it wasn’t for them [St Vincent de Paul]. Two of their men used to come to the house every Friday. Sometimes they paid our electricity bill, or they would pay for the coal.

“We’d get a box of chocolates on the odd occasion. But I didn’t know what was going on.

“My mother used to tell me they were my Uncle Vincent and Uncle Paul. I grew up thinking these two fellas really were my uncles. But the result is that I know how much good these charities do and how passionate they are about their work.”

The Finglas-born comedian, whose popular character Agnes Brown, returns to TV screens over the festive season with two Christmas specials of Mrs Brown’s Boys, also admitted that watching families who have been separated through emigration reunite at Dublin airport is his favourite thing to do at this time of year.

In an interview with the TV Times, he said: “By the time I was 10, a lot of my brothers and sisters had emigrated. In those days, most Irish women had to leave to find work. And that’s what happened with me — my sister, Fiona, for example, went to Canada. I spent days waiting to meet them at Dublin airport.

“To this day, my favourite place to be is at the arrivals lounge at Dublin Airport.

“In fact, I still sometimes go there at Christmas time to witness the joy of people reuniting as they emerge from behind those sliding doors, arms outstretched, and embrace family or friends they have missed and who missed them. And yes, I cry as I watch.”