Those of you who follow what’s happening in Ireland will be aware of the whole Garth Brooks fiasco – for those not in the know. The Singer was supposed to perform 5 sell out shows at Croke Park, Dublin. Unfortunately the council would only licence 3…..so the compromise was zero and the tour was cancelled. Which was very unfortunate for the people who had booked flights and hotels for the shows!
My good friend John Murphy wrote a topical little ditty called “The night that Garth Brooks nearly came to town” – So here we are performing on the John Murray show on RTE Radio1. Wild Bill Hickey and the Blue Bulls…..never going to make number one, but it’s a bit of fun, and who can resist that?
After the frenzy of D’Movie Premiere I returned home to West Cork where I was interviewed for the Southern Star. You can find the interview below.
EILISH O’Carroll loved the fact she was coming back home to West Cork after the whirlwind of media attention around the opening of Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie. She doesn’t bother looking at the ratings, but if she did she would see a smash hit currently topping the box office across Ireland and the UK.
Her character is Winnie McGoogan, neighbour and confidante of Agnes Brown, the irreverent Dublin matriarch played by her brother Brendan.
It all started in Cork in the Everyman Theatre in 1999 when Mrs Brown’s Boys began touring. Recalling the pandemonium backstage before the performance she says: ‘We had no time for a dress rehearsal, nails were still being hammered into the set just before the curtain went up. After a few minutes into it, peals of laughter rang out from the audience –then we knew we were on to a winner. The Corkonians loved it.’
Playing Glasgow in 2009 the show caught the attention of BBC producer Stephen McCrum, and was subsequently filmed as a TV series securing prodigious ratings, not only in Ireland and the UK, but more recently in Australia. Eilish is still reeling from the euphoria of standing in front of audiences of 7,000 people there.
Over a cup of tea at her Castletownshend home, she reminiscences about her childhood in Dublin, and what it was like growing up as the second youngest of a family of ten, with Brendan being the ‘baby’ of the family.
‘My mother used to crack up laughing at Brendan’s antics, trying to keep a straight face while reprimanding him was not easy.’
Their mother, Maureen O’Carroll was a Labour TD for Dublin North-Central, serving from 1954-57. Eilish is researching her life story with a view to writing a book.
‘As she was in politics, we were the only house in Finglas that had a phone.’ She recalls frequently having tea interrupted when it would ring and a voice at the other end would ask to speak to a neighbour. ‘It was often an emigrant calling from a phone box in England,’ she says. ‘One of us kids would be sent off to get the requested person and they would call back after ten minutes.’
Part of the appeal of the Mrs Brown phenomenon lies in the nostalgia people feel for a disappearing era in Ireland. Keys were permanently left in doors and neighbours walked freely in and out of each other’s houses.
Eilish remembers her mother’s best friend and neighbour Nancy Pimley doing just that.
‘Nancy and my mother would spend hours sitting around the kitchen table swapping and discussing books like Valley of the Dolls – the 1966 bestseller by Jacqueline Susann. Nancy wore curlers in her hair and the pair of them would smoke fags and discuss every topic under the sun. Nancy was a bit in awe of my mother, and I definitely draw inspiration from her for the character of Winnie.
The on-screen Agnes/Winnie relationship mirrors the friendship shared among women friends guarding one another’s deepest secrets and confidences.’
‘My mother hated injustice and was a campaigner for numerous issues, like the right for female offenders to be body searched by women police officers only.’
She was also a voracious reader, recalls Eilish: ‘The breakfast dishes would be in the sink, the nappy hanging off the child, and she would be at the kitchen table scanning the newspaper from cover to cover – The Irish Times was her favourite.’
Eilish is also passionate about human rights and just recently, in June, was the guest speaker at the AGM of the West Cork Women against Violence Project.
West Cork affords her the opportunity to recharge her batteries and to carry on with her writing.
She wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed show ‘Live Love Laugh’, which received the Doric Wilson Intercultural Dialogue Award and premiered at the Dublin Gay International Festival in 2012. She plans to shake it out of the airing cupboard and tour it around the theatre circuit in Ireland.
In the meantime she is taking a bit of well-earned time out down south.
‘I love the air, the colours, the light, the sea, the creativity of the people, the music, the art and the ad-hoc way things just evolve in West Cork,’ she says. ‘I love it that you can even get to do a course on WB Yeats, through the West Cork College, near Baltimore, it’s all here!’
Maybe it’s the kind of place where Winnie McGoogan would happily pop next door to have a natter with the neighbours, even these days.
I’ve stepped into the 21st Century and become a podcaster!
Myself and the lovely Mary Byrne have been sitting around my kitchen table, chewing the fat and putting the world to rights. We’d love you to join us during our little tete a tete. Click the link below and have a listen!
Well it’s October, so that means only one thing – Glasgow! We have been recording this years Christmas and New Year episodes. It was lovely to see everyone again and to don the curlers and hairnet once more!
The One Stop Tour 2023!
We’ve all heard of the non-stop tour. Well, you know – it’s good to be a little bit different – so in December I’m going to be doing a ONE stop tour. I will be at The Viking Theatre at The Sheds in Clontarf, with my one woman show Live Love Laugh. I’ll be there Tuesday 5th Dec – Saturday 9th Dec & Tuesday 12th December – Saturday 16th Dec Come on down! (as somebody used to say). Tickets are available from www.vikingtheatredublin.com or 087 1129970
Mrs Brown’s Boys back on the road!
Well we’re delighted to be back touring with Mrs Brown Rides Again, We’ve already played Glasgow & Manchester and next on the list are Hull, Wolverhampton, Sunderland & Blackpool.
I’ll be touring with my one woman show this September, you can catch me at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre, Townhall Theatre Galway and Venue Theatre Ratoath – It would be lovely to see you!
Live Love Laugh 2021
Due to the whole uncertainty around Covid, it was necessary to reschedule ‘Live Love Laugh’ for Rathoath, Galway and Ballymaloe Cork. New dates for 2022 had to be agreed. Can I also take this opportunity to thank everyone who came to the show in Portlaoise, Naas, Waterford, and the Pavilion Dublin.
The Madam Blanc Mysteries
If you are lucky enough to get Channel 5 this series is so worth watching. You never know who you might recognise!!!!
Mrs Brown’s Boy’s Live 2021
Don’t miss our live spooky spectacular on Friday 29th October! 9:30pm on BBC & RTE
The Six O’ Clock Show
I’ll be on the 6 o’clock show I’m looking forward to being back there, tune in if you can 🙂
Ray D’arcy
I’ll be appearing on The Ray D’arcy Show on Saturday 6th October, adding my voice to a campaign close to my heart.
All Round To Mrs Brown’s
We have just finished recording the 2nd series of ARTMB at one of our favourite locations, BBC Scotland in Glasgow. As usual the staff looked after us so well and we had a great time making the series.
New Zealand Are You ready?
After 6 weeks in Australia we’ve arrived in New Zealand for our shows in Christchurch & Auckland, I can’t believe this tour is nearly finished, we’ve had an absolute ball.
The final 2 weeks of our 2017 tour!
Hello everyone from Belfast – It’s only Baltic here! We’re on our final leg of the tour now having just played Liverpool & Sheffield on the mainland – we have 4 shows to do here and then it’s on to our home city of Dublin for the final 5 shows of 2017, as always we’ve had great fun and met such lovely people along the way.
Almost time to get back on tour with Mrs Brown!
Thursday 23rd November will see Good Mourning Mrs Brown open at The fabulous Liverpool Echo Arena. I love Liverpool, we’re always assured of a lovely welcome and fantastic audiences.
Mrs Brown at The O2
On Wednesday 5th July we will be appearing at the wonderful O2 Arena in London – 6 shows in all, and what a fabulous way to bring the second leg of the 2017 tour to a close
Tour Life Week Two
A busy week lies ahead with 4 shows on this leg of the tour. Omagh – Strule Arts Centre – Weds 3rd May, Armagh – The Market Place Theatre – Thurs 4th May, Newtonabbey – Theatre At The Mill – Fri 5th May, Downpatrick – Down Arts Centre – Saturday 6th May.
Second Show And 1st Weekend Done
What a lovely night in Donaghmore – a great audience and another standing ovation, thank you to all the staff at the theatre, and to all of you who came to the show.
First Night Done And Dusted
Thank you to Ramor Theatre, Virginia Co. Cavan. Wonderful venue, excellent staff, lovely audience and a standing ovation, what more could I ask for on the first night?
Live Love Laugh Spring Tour (21/04/17)
I’m so excited that the tour is starting tomorrow – I’ve been busy doing tv & radio interviews around Belfast today and tomorrow we open in Cavan at Ramor Theatre, then move on to The Bardic Theatre, Donaghmore – I will update the website weekly to let you know where I’ll be performing – but if you click on the Live Love Laugh page, you can see the dates and venues on the tour poster.
The Wright Stuff
I will be on the panel of channel 5’s The wright stuff on Tuesday 4th April – the programme will be going out live between 9:15 and 11:10, I’m really looking forward to doing this.
Good Morning Mrs Brown
Our 2017 UK & Ireland tour began on Thursday 23rd March at The Pavilion Theatre in Rhyl, North Wales – we were all raring to get back on stage. We had a wonderful reception from the Welsh crowd and we now move on to Glasgow, Birmingham & Manchester. I hope I’ll meet as many of you as I can at the post performance “meet & greets”.
A Little Chat With Paul Ross
Friday 3rd March:
I had a lovely little chinwag with Paul Ross on Friday morning on his breakfast show on Talk Radio. Click the link to hear the interview.
The last show of my 2016 Live Love Laugh tour is coming up on Saturday 22nd November at the fabulous Everyman – Cork. Performing in my home city is such a delight, I really can’t wait – see you all there.
We have a Christmas Special !
Well that’s the Christmas Special done and dusted, and as always you’re going to love it. We’re now in rehearsals for the New Year Special, and will be recording on Thursday.
Here Comes Winnie!
Back in Glasgow for rehearsals and recordings of the Christmas & New Year specials, feels just like coming home. Glasgow has been so good to us.
The Anton Savage Show
I had a lovely morning with Anton Savage on Today FM discussing MBB, Live Love Laugh, The Festival of Women and teetotal beer sellers! And more!
What an amazing response to The Live broadcast of Mrs Brown’s Boys on RTE One & BBC One. It was great to be back in the studio with the gang, and we had such a lot of fun making this episode. Thank you for all the support, and thank you for watching – the statistics say it was around 11 million viewers across the UK & Ireland.
Winnie’s Back!
So, my sequinned dresses and dancing shoes have been stored away for a while and I’ll be donning my hair net, curlers and pop socks again in July as Mrs Brown’s Boys broadcasts LIVE from BBC Scotland….who knows what Agnes will get up too!
MC Eilish Is in D’House!
I feel honored to have been asked to be MC for the eagerly anticipated ‘Hooley in the Hall’, a charity bash taking place in the County Hall (Cork) on Friday, June 17 to mark the end of Cllr John Paul O’Shea’s term as county mayor. Really looking forward to it.
Elvis Is My Daddy – Olympia Theatre
Well after a fabulous week in Cork, we arrived here at the fabulous Olympia Theatre, We’re having such fun with the audiences – this is such a feel good show and it’s just brilliant to see everyone singing, clapping and dancing along – Lana is thrilled dahlings!
Elvis Is My Daddy – Everyman Cork
The time is almost upon us – on Tuesday 3rd May we open at Everyman Cork for 5 nights of sing a long, toe tapping fun and laughter in John Murphy’s wonderful musical/comedy/drama. Tickets are available at The Everyman, Ticketmaster, www.elvisismydaddy.com and our Facebook page. A fabulous night is guaranteed!
Seven o’clock show
I appeared with Martin & Lucy on Tuesday night’s Seven o’clock show, we chatted about Mrs Brown’s Boy’s Australia & New Zealand tour, cooking, Elvis Is My Daddy, oh…. and peeing in a bucket in a dressing room – the glamour of showbusiness! The lovely Gwen Taylor was also on the show.
Elvis Is My Daddy
Well we sold out The Civic Theatre, Tallaght on 4th & 5th November. Our audiences have been up on their feet singing and dancing, and have left the theatres with smiles on their faces – just as we wanted! Catch Elvis Is My Daddy at The Everyman Palace Theatre, Cork Tues 3rd – Sat 7th May 2016 and at The Olympia Theatre, Dublin 11th – 14th & 18th -21st May.
Below is a shot of me as the wonderful Lana Lavelle!
Live Love Laugh
Live Love Laugh had it’s final performance of 2015 tonight at Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge Co. Kildare, and another sell out – what a great way to end the tour!
RTE One
On Friday 23rd October at 4:10 pm I appeared on RTE One’s Today show with Maura Derrane and Daithí Ó Sé.
How Now Mrs Brown Cow
We we’re back on tour in November/December in Liverpool, Sheffield, Belfast & Dublin.
August
Elvis Is My Daddy returned for a week long run at The Dolmen Theatre in Cornelscourt, Dublin 18. We played 6 nights to full houses each night and we had such an amazing reaction to the show, thank you to all of you who came to see us.
How Now Mrs Brown Cow
Wow, I can’t believe we’re at the end of the second leg of the UK tour – Newcastle, Cardiff, Leeds, Nottingham & the fabulous 02 Arena in London all completed. We take a summer break, but will be back in September with the live DVD and Christmas recordings.
May 28th & 29th 2015
Live Love Laugh made it’s UK debut Brushford Parish Hall, Brushford, nr Dulverton Somerset, UK
April 2015
How Now Mrs Brown Cow
Glasgow Hydro & Manchester Phones 4 U Arena
March 2015
So that’s the end of the Live Love Laugh 2014/15 Irish tour – thank you Dun Laoghaire, nice to finish on a high. Thank you to all the family and friends who came to support me throughout the tour, and the members of my Official Facebook fan club who came to Dun Laoghaire for the final show. No time to put my feet up though, on with the pop socks and in with the curlers – Mrs Brown’s Boys is back on the road around the UK with “How Now Mrs Brown Cow”. I hope to see some of you on our travels.
Rhyl Pavilion, Birmingham Genting Arena and Glasgow Hydro
February 2015
Just completed shows in Derry, Letterkenny, Galway and Kerry, 4 more left on this years tour, Wexford, Waterford, & Cork
January 2015
Back on the road again with my show Live Love Laugh – full details of the tour can be found on the Live Love Laugh tab, but in short I played, Dublin, Derry, Letterkenny, Galway, Tralee, Waterford, Wexford, Cork and Dun Laoghaire throughout January – March.
December 2014
I did an interview for RTE One’s Nationwide programme with Mary Kennedy at my home in West Cork.
Just after Christmas I was invited to appear on The Saturday Night Show.
November 2014
On the road with Live love Laugh, Headford Hall – Co. Galway, Macroom Co. Cork & Athlone Co. Westmeath.
October 2014
We returned to BBC Scotland the recording of two new Christmas Specials. I think you will love the episodes, we had so much fun making them.
June 2014
June saw the World Premiere of D’Movie! Despite the dreadful weather, we had a wonderful welcome home in Dublin when we arrived for the screening at The Savoy Cinema.
February / March / April
Well our first Australian tour is over. We had an amazing time and met some absolutely wonderful people. I loved Australia and would love to go back and see more of it. We were treated like rock stars and it is no exaggeration to say that Australia LOVES Agnes Brown!
January 2014
The new year started brilliantly, Mrs Brown’s Boys won Best Comedy at The National television Awards. I was interviewed on RTÉ radio by Miriam O’Sullivan, and was a guest The Today Show on RTE1 tv.
December 2013
The tour continued in Sheffield and then appropriately finished in our home town of Dublin at the amazing O2.
November 2013
Mrs. Brown went back on tour in Belfast & Liverpool.
September 2013
Mrs. Brown ‘D’ The Movie. Started filming in Dublin early September and finished end of October and what fun we had. Can’t wait to see it on the big screen. The UK release date is 27th June.
August 2013
I performed my one-woman show, Live Love Laugh, to more than 3000 people during the Edinburgh Festival. What an experience. Enjoyed every minute and got some great reviews.
July 2013
My third Grandson, Thomas arrived on the 14th July weighing in at 8lbs.
