Malachy McCourt was an Irish writer, actor, and talk show host who once ran for Governor of New York and followed-up his brother’s Pulitzer Prize-winning work, “Angela’s Ashes,” with a memoir of his own, “A Monk Swimming.”
- Died: March 11, 2024 (Who else died on March 11?)
- Details of death: Died in New York City after a long illness at the age of 92.
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Malachy McCourt’s legacy
Though born in the United States, McCourt was raised in Limerick, Ireland, by his parents, Malachy and Angela – the titular Angela in “Angela’s Ashes,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir written by McCourt’s brother, Frank McCourt (1930–2009). He returned to the U.S. as an adult in 1952 and for a time was a popular bartender in New York City, where he opened Malachy’s, a bar on Third Avenue.
After his bartending days were over, McCourt explored all corners of creative entertainment. In 1970, he released a spoken word album, “And the Children Toll the Passing of the Day,” and he spent time as a radio talk show host. He was also an actor, appearing in such films as 1970’s “The Molly Maguires” and 1985’s “Brewster’s Millions,” and on television in shows like “Ryan’s Hope” (playing the familiar role of bartender), “One Life to Live,” and his recurring role as Father Clarence on “All My Children.”
McCourt was also a writer whose work explored his upbringing in Ireland and subsequent return to the U.S. His 1998 memoir, “A Monk Swimming,” serves as a sequel to “Angela’s Ashes” and picks up where it left off. Other works include “Bush Lies in State,” “Singing My Him Song,” and “Through Irish Eyes: A Visual Companion to Angela McCourt’s Ireland,” among others.
McCourt was outspoken about his politics, and in 2006 threw his hat into the ring when he ran for Governor of New York under the Green Party banner. Cindy Sheehan, mother of a fallen Iraq War soldier who made big headlines during the time, endorsed him. McCourt came in third by a wide margin. In 2023, he announced he was sick with several ailments, including cancer.
On escaping the poverty of his youth:
“I think about the humiliations of poverty. For me it was about getting out from under the humiliation and not letting it see your soul. I clung to that American citizenship.”—from a 2019 interview for The Irish Times
Tributes to Malachy McCourt
Full obituary: The New York Times
