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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