Order the first ever autobiography from Brendan O'Carroll, now in paperback

'What forking trouble are you in now?' Mammy asked. She opened the letter and I waited. 'It's nothing, just the result of your check-up.' There was a pause and then she did an 'uh-oh'.

'What? What is it?''It's nothing really . . .

but you're colour-blind.'Nothing? Nothing? I was aghast. 'But that could be dangerous. I mean, when I start to drive how will I be able to tell traffic lights?''I'll give you a hint, son, the red one is on the forking top.'Before he became the nation's favourite Mammy, Brendan O'Carroll was known simply as Brendan.

The youngest of ten children from a poor family in Dublin, his father died when he was just nine years old. Leaving school at the mere age of 12, Brendan began what would become a long and varied working life; he would go on to be a waiter, a publican, a window cleaner and a publisher amongst other jobs. Throughout the tough moments, Brendan always had humour and a good story to tell alongside the ever-guiding inspiration of his own Mammy, a formidable figure who became Ireland's first female Labour MP.

His hope and determination meant he never gave up, and eventually a chance opportunity to perform stand-up would pave the way for the TV show that would become 'Mrs. Brown's Boys'. In his own unique voice, Brendan O'Carroll strings together the threads of his life, a helter-skelter story tracing the helter-skelter journey of a scrawny kid from Finglas, Dublin to TV screens around the world, told with warmth, humour, a touch of mischievousness - and more than a few coincidences.