Famous Son Of Ireland:  Author/Artist Category:

Christy Brown - Against Great Odds Dublin Author Became World Famous

A man of immense determination who fought adversity and became a Famous Son of Ireland, known throughout the world for his literature and paintings.

Christy Brown was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1932 with a condition of Cerebral Palsy and his family of siblings were quite large.

Only a very limited number of people were able to locate the genius hidden talent that lay dormant in his over worked brain. Christy always struggled to express himself and his inability to communicate in ordinary speech, greatly imposed a level of frustration only known to himself and his mother.

The achievements of Christy were recognised by his readers who saw in him an extraordinary talent for literature and not because he was disabled. He wrote in a manner that was letter perfect for all readers, even the casual book reader could not resist taking his writings from the shelf.

As a painter nobody would venture to suggest that Christy Brown also had an instinct to place his artful imagination on paper or canvas but that was the depth of immense talent that he possessed.

Christy astounded the professionals by launching himself as a writer and painter of great intellect.

He was rewarded with great appreciation and his place in history was assured by the film ‘My Left Foot’ that portrayed his life.

His book and autobiography of the same title, was translated into fourteen languages and a prominent newspaper stated the book was ‘The most important Irish novel since Joyces’s 'Ulysses’.

Works by Christy Brown include:

My Left Foot (1954)  Down All The Days (1970)

Come Softly To My Wake (1971)  Background Music (1973)  A Shadow On Summer

Wild Grow The Lilies (1976)  Of Snails And Skylarks (1978)   A Promising Career

The Collected Poems Of Christy Brown (1991)

Christy’s early life in Dublin’s southside suburb of Kimmage had no easy paths or highways to stardom and the family council home was not user friendly for a budding writer and artist.

When fame came calling at Christy’s door, his life exploded and he had no scarcity of new friends who all wanted to share his new found prosperity.

Christy went into a relationship with his Co. Kerry born minder and nurse and the final outcome was a marriage ceremony in October 1972 at Sutton, Co. Dublin. The couple dismantled Christy’s Dublin roots and moved to a location in north Co. Kerry and would finally move to Somerset, England.

It was here on 7th September 1981 that a Famous Son of Ireland, Christy Brown, died.

His untimely and tragic death at just forty nine years old, was mourned all around the world and especially so due to his suffocation whilst eating a meal.

The Dublin author was brought home to his native city for burial at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.