Showing results by author "Alphie McCourt" in All Categories

The Soulswimmer is a witty and insightful collection of stories, verses, and songs by Alphie McCourt, the youngest of the literary McCourt brothers famous for their Irish memoirs.

This story, written and read by the author, strings together retellings of a few of the expatriate Irishman's most memorable Saint Patrick's days here in the USA. In his cordial brogue, Alphie relates the history of the Catholic feast day, and moves candidly, with great warmth and self-deprecation, onward through the past few decades to relate his personal, hilarious highlights of the day when everyone loves to become Irish in the wearing o’ the green.

The mouse came looking for his present. The tree was fresh and the cat indifferent. It was an evening our household will always remember.

Alphie McCourt, the youngest of the McCourt brothers, reminisces on Christmas past—from his childhood in Limerick to the celebrations of family and friends in New York as an adult with Frank and Malachy.

"From the lanes of Limerick to the bejeweled and glittering women of the Upper East Side; that's quite a stretch, but please, not too far. I had a hole in my pants." In New York, everything is possible.

In a rare occurrence, Santa Claus meets the baby Jesus. The children cheer the two of them. Peace reigns amid great generosity of spirit, and Santa's despair gives way to bright hope for the future.

"Jews and Irish Catholics did not often marry each other in the 1970s. Lynn and I did. A few mishaps, an AWOL rabbi, a long delay and a riotous reception, all combined for a hugely memorable day."

This memoir of the youngest McCourt begins between the borders of Canada and the United States. Because of a technical hitch in immigration law, Alphie, in town to play a rugby match with his mates, finds himself shanghaied in no man's land. This was not the first, or the last, time Alphie will be on unsteady ground. Alphie McCourt was born in Limerick, Ireland, where his father's departure left misery behind for the family.