Angela's Ashes Study Guide

Born in Brooklyn, New York on 19 August 1930, Frank (Francis) McCourt is the oldest son of Malachy and Angela Sheehan McCourt. He lives with his parents and four younger siblings: Malachy, born in 1931; twins Oliver and Eugene, born in 1932; and a younger sister, Margaret, who dies seven weeks after birth, in 1935. Following this first tragedy, his family moves back to Ireland where Oliver and Eugene die within a year of the family's arrival and where Frank's youngest brothers, Michael (b. 1936) and Alphie (Alphonsus, b. 1940), are born.

Angela Sheehan emigrates from Ireland to the U.S. and meets Malachy McCourt after he has served a 3-month sentence for hijacking a truck. Angela becomes pregnant with Malachy's child; under pressure from Angela's cousins, Philomena and Delia MacNamara, Malachy marries Angela. Malachy does not think the marriage will last and attempts to run away to California, but spends all his traveling money at the pub. Over the next few years, Angela gives birth to Francis (Frank), then Malachy, twins Oliver and Eugene, and Margaret, who dies in infancy. Soon after Margaret's death, the McCourt family moves back to Ireland, where they both have family members who can help them.

Life in Ireland, specifically in Limerick, during the 1930s and 1940s is described in all its grittiness. The family live in a dilapidated, unpaved lane of houses that flood regularly. The McCourts' house is in the farthest part of the lane, near the only outdoor lavatory for the entire lane. Malachy Sr. teaches the children Irish stories and songs, but he is an alcoholic and seldom finds work. When he does, he spends his pay in the pubs. His family is forced to live on the dole since he cannot hold down a paying job for long due to his alcoholism. The father will often pick up and spend the welfare payment before Angela can get her hands on it to feed the starving children. For years the family subsists on little more than bread and tea. They are always wondering when their next real meal would be and whether the kids would have shoes for school. Despite all the hardships, many passages of the story are told with heartfelt humor and charm.

Frank's father eventually finds a job at a defense plant in Coventry, England, yet he squanders his pay rather than sending money back to his struggling family. As there are few jobs for women, their mother is forced to ask for help from the Church and the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. They live in fear of not going to heaven, unless they pray or worship as often as prescribed by the Church. Sometimes, Frank and his brothers scavenge for lumps of coal or peat turf for fuel, or steal bread to survive; they also occasionally steal leftover food from restaurants at the end of the day. Angela's mother (a widow) and sister are reluctant to help her because they disapprove of her husband, as he is not from Limerick, and they felt he has the "odd manner" about him. To make up for his father's failure to support the family, Frank starts working as a messenger delivery boy when he is fourteen. He gives some of his earnings to his mother to feed the rest of the children, and the rest he saves for his planned return to America. Schooling for Frank ends at the age of thirteen, as it does for most of the poor boys in the lanes of Limerick. Though both his teacher, Mr. O’Halloran, and a librarian tell Frank to continue his schooling, he wants to begin working "like a man."

The McCourt children have insufficient clothing and shoes despite the continual rain, and suffer in the damp, cold climate of Ireland. Frank develops typhoid fever and is taken to hospital, where for the first time he has adequate food and warmth. Later, he gets a job helping a neighbor who has leg problems; he delivers coal for the neighbor, a job he is proud of and wants to continue even though it exacerbates his chronic conjunctivitis. The family is finally evicted after they take a hatchet to the walls of their rented home to burn the wood for heat. They are forced to move in with a cousin of Angela's who treats them badly and eventually forces a sexual relationship on Frank's mother, Angela. Angela is forced into this situation by a need to find accommodation for her children and she is described as staring into the ashes of the fireplace. This gives a meaning of the title of the book. Angela's potentials have been reduced to ashes. There is another more hopeful meaning in that from the ashes of Angela's life there comes the good things of children and caring for others. From the poverty of their lives the goodness of the irresponsible father is revealed.

When Frank and Angela go to the Christian Brothers to inquire about further schooling for Frank, they slam the door in his face. A few days after his 14th birthday, Frank starts his first job as a telegram delivery boy for the post office. The wry wit of Frank's narration clearly shows that he has the capacity to rise in this job, but circumstances stop him progressing. During this time, Frank has sexual relations with a young woman named Theresa Carmody, who has tuberculosis and later dies, making Frankie feel guilty about "sending her to hell" for premarital sex.

Frank is encouraged to take the postman test at the Post Office, but decides not to and instead begins delivering newspapers and magazines for Eason's. To earn extra money toward his voyage to the United States he also writes threatening collection letters on behalf of a local moneylender. When the moneylender dies, Frank takes money from her purse and throws her ledger of debtors into the river. Thus, through a combination of scrimping, saving, and stealing, Frank eventually does get enough money to travel to the U.S. The story ends with 19-year-old Frank arriving in Poughkeepsie, New York, ready to begin a new life in the country of his birth.