Christy Brown

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Christy Brown (5 June 1932 – 7

September 1981) was an Irish writer and
painter who had cerebral palsy and was
able to write or type only with the toes of
one foot. His most recognized work is his
autobiography, titled My Left Foot (1954). It
was later made into a 1989 Academy
began to visit the Brown family regularly,
while bringing Christy books and painting
materials as, over the years, he had shown
a keen interest in the arts and literature.
He had also demonstrated extremely
impressive physical dexterity since, soon
after discovering several household books,
Christy had learned to both write and draw
himself, with the only limb over which he
had unequivocal control: his left leg.[2]
Brown quickly matured into a serious
artist. Although Brown famously received
almost no formal schooling during his
youth, he did attend St Brendan's School-
Clinic in Sandymount intermittently. At St.
Brendan's he came in contact with Dr.
Robert Collis, a noted author. Collis
discovered that Brown was also a natural
novelist and, later, Collis helped use his
own connections to publish My Left Foot,
by then a long-gestating autobiographical
account of Brown's struggle with everyday
life amidst the vibrant culture of Dublin.[3]

When My Left Foot became a literary

sensation, one of the many people who
wrote letters to Brown was married
American woman Beth Moore. Brown and
Moore became regular correspondents
and, in 1960, Brown holidayed in North
America and stayed with Moore at her
home in Connecticut.[4] When they met
again in 1965 they began an affair. Brown
journeyed to Connecticut once more to
finish his magnum opus, which he had
been developing for years. He finally did so
in 1967 with help from Moore, who
introduced and administered a strict
working regimen, mostly by denying him
alcohol (on which Brown was dependent)
until a day's work was completed.[5] The
book, titled Down All the Days, was
published in 1970 and was inscribed with
a dedication to Moore that read, "For Beth,
who with such gentle ferocity, finally
whipped me into finishing this book..."[6]
During this time, Brown's fame continued
to spread internationally and he became a
prominent celebrity. Upon his return to
Ireland, he was able to use proceeds from
the sales of his books to design and move
into a specially constructed home outside
Dublin with his sister's family.[7] Though
Brown and Beth had planned to marry and
live together at the new home, and though
Moore had informed her husband of these
plans, it was around this time that Brown
began an affair with Englishwoman Mary
Carr, whom he met at a party in London.[8]
Brown then terminated his affair with
Moore and married Carr at the Registry
Office, Dublin, in 1972. They moved to
Stoney Lane, Rathcoole, County Dublin
(now site of Lisheen Nursing Home), to
Ballyheigue, County Kerry and then to
Somerset. He continued to paint, write
novels, poetry and plays. His 1974 novel, A
Shadow on Summer, was based on his
relationship with Moore, whom he still
considered a friend.[9]

Death
Brown's health deteriorated after marrying
Carr. He became mainly a recluse in his
last years, which is thought to be a direct
result of Carr's influence and perhaps
abusive nature.[10] Brown died at the age
of 49 after choking during a lamb chop
dinner. His body was found to have
significant bruising, which led many to
believe that Carr had physically abused
him. Further suspicions arose after
Georgina Hambleton's biography, The Life
That Inspired My Left Foot, revealed a
supposedly more accurate and unhealthy
version of their relationship. The book
portrays Carr as an abusive alcoholic and
habitually unfaithful.[11] In Hambleton's
book, she quotes Brown's brother, Sean, as
saying: "Christy loved her but it wasn't
reciprocated because she wasn't that kind
of person. If she loved him like she said
she did, she wouldn't have had affairs with
both men and women. I feel she took
advantage of him in more ways than one."
Literary legacy
Brown's self-proclaimed masterpiece,
Down All the Days, was an ambitious
project drawn largely from a playful
expansion of My Left Foot; it also became
an international best-seller, translated into
fourteen languages. The Irish Times
reviewer Bernard Share claimed the work
was "the most important Irish novel since
Ulysses." Like James Joyce, Brown
employed the stream-of-consciousness
technique and sought to document
Dublin's culture through the use of humour,
accurate dialects and intricate character
description. Down All the Days was
followed by a series of other novels,
including A Shadow on Summer (1972),
Wild Grow the Lilies (1976) and A
Promising Career (published posthumously
in 1982). He also published three poetry
collections: Come Softly to My Wake,
Background Music and Of Snails and
Skylarks. All the poems are included in The
Collected Poems of Christy Brown.

Cultural references
A film adaptation of My Left Foot directed
by Jim Sheridan was produced in 1989
from a screenplay by Shane Connaughton.
Daniel Day-Lewis starred as Brown and
Brenda Fricker as his mother; both won
Academy Awards for their performances.
The film also received Academy Award
nominations for Best Picture, Best
Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

The Anglo-Irish rock band The Pogues

paid tribute to Christy Brown with a song
titled "Down All the Days." It is the seventh
track on their 1989 recording Peace and
Love. Similarly, U2 released a song titled
"Down All the Days" with the 20th
anniversary edition of Achtung Baby. The
Men They Couldn't Hang also wrote a song
"Down All the Days" which appears on the
Silver Town album also released in 1989.
Works
1954 My Left Foot
1970 Down All the Days
1971 Come Softly to My Wake (Poems of
Christy Brown)
1973 Background Music: Poems of
Christy Brown
1974 A Shadow on Summer
1976 Wild Grow the Lilies
1978 Of Snails And Skylarks
1982 A Promising Career (posthumous
publication of his final work)
1991 The Collected Poems of Christy
Brown (posthumous compilation of his
 three books of poetry)

References
1. Hambleton, Georgina Louise (2
September 2011). Christy Brown: The Life
That Inspired My Left Foot . Mainstream
Publishing. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-78057-334-2.
Retrieved 26 February 2015.
2. Jordan (1998), pp. 20–21.
3. Jordan (1998), p. 49.
4. Jordan (1998), pp. 68–74.
5. Jordan (1998), p. 91.
6. Jordan (1998), p. 103.
7. Jordan (1998), p. 111.
8. Jordan (1998), p. 118.
9. Jordan (1998), pp. 127–128.
10. Peterkin, Tom (6 November 2007).
"Christy Brown 'neglected by ex-prostitute
wife' " . The Daily Telegraph. London.
Retrieved 6 November 2007.
11. Asthana, Anushka (17 November 2007).
"The dark side of a poet that Hollywood
didn't show" . The Guardian. London.
Retrieved 17 November 2007.
Bibliography
Jordan, Anthony J. (1998). Christy
Brown's Women: A Biography Drawing on
His Letters. Westport Books. ISBN 978-
0-9524447-3-2.

External links
 Christy Brown Biography
Christy Brown on IMDb

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