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. 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.' During this time, Brown's fame continued to spread internationally and he became a prominent celebrity. 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. When they met again in 1965 they began an affair.īrown journeyed to Connecticut once more to finish his ' magnus opus ,' which he had been developing for years. Brown and Moore became regular correspondents and in 1960 Brown holidayed in North America and stayed with Moore at her home in Connecticut. When My Left Foot became a literary sensation, one of the many people who wrote letters to Brown was married American woman Beth Moore. 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. Brown quickly matured into a serious artist.Īlthough Brown famously received almost no formal schooling during his youth, he did attend St Brendan's School-Clinic in Sandymount intermittently.

Though urged to commit him to a convalescent hospital, Brown's parents were unswayed and subsequently determined to raise him at home with their other children.ĭuring Brown's adolescence, social worker Katrina Delahunt became aware of his story and began to visit the Brown family regularly, while bringing Christy books and painting materials as he had, beginning years earlier, demonstrated keen interest in the arts and literature and also 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.

Christy Brown ( 1932-1981) was one of 22 children ( 13 surviving) born to his father, a bricklayer from Crumlin and his mother who was the constant support during his your years.Ĭhristy Brown was born in the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin in the summer of 1932 to a working-class Irish family.Īfter his birth, doctors discovered that he had severe cerebral palsy, a serious neurological disorder which left him almost entirely paralyzed by spasticity in his limbs.

Christy brown story