Characters / Mrs. Brown's Boys

The Brown Family

Agnes Brown

Portrayed by Brendan O'Carroll

The main character. A 70 something year old woman who speaks her mind. She's can be quite rude but loves her family more than anything.

• Catchphrase: "Do you want a cup of tea?", "That's nice." and "How do doo do?" when she answers the phone.

• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Rude, uncouth and rather arrogant and stubborn, but Agnes cares about her family more than anything. Any implications she would ever stop loving one of them are succinctly shot down.
• Malaproper: She's always mixing up her metaphors and expressions.

• Sir Swears-a-Lot: "Feckin'", "buckin'", "shite" amongst many others.
• Unusual Euphemism: According to herself, her Catchphrase "That's nice" has a substitute for "fuck off" since she took elocution lessons.

Cathy Brown

Portrayed by Jennifer Gibney ^note married to Brendan O'Carroll

Agnes' only daughter. She's the only sensible character in the show.

• Hypocrite: Seems like one when she tells Agnes and Winnie they're not welcome at Maria's hen party because it's for young people, despite being a middle aged divorcee herself. Then it's revealed she wasn't going either, she was attending a memorial service.

• What Happened to the Mouse?: Is mentioned in the second episode to have been married and divorced before the start of the series. This is never mentioned again afterward.

Dermot Brown

Portrayed by Paddy Houlihan ^note Close family friend of the O'Carrolls

Agnes' son who was once a criminal but changed his ways.

• Heroic BSoD: He had one after his father died ("Locked himself in the feckin' cupboard for two weeks!") and one right before his wedding (again locking himself in the cupboard).
• Once per Episode: Dermot always comes into the house dressed in some kind of mascot outfit/costume (e.g. Bugs Bunny, a drill, Superman, a golf ball on the lawn, a genie in a lamp, Batman, a "giant cock" according to Agnes, a turkey, Ken from the Barbie doll series, a giant king crab, etc.). It's never explicated on what exactly his job is (but is implied to be related to advertising). Agnes also always has a couple of puns ready for whatever costume he turns up in.
• Reformed Criminal: Dermot has been to prison (along with his best friend Buster), but has gone straight. Not that that stops Buster from trying to drag him back into petty crime and cheap scams, though.

Rory Brown

Portrayed by Rory Cowan ^note Brendan O'Carroll's manager

Agnes' gay son. He spent the whole of the first season trying to come out to his mother, but something always got in the way. She had no idea he was gay despite dressing in pink and acting very gay. He's usually the target of a tea towel slap from Agnes, especially after he's said or done something silly.

• Drives Like Crazy: So bad that his driving instructor asks for him to bring in a crash helmet...for the instructor.

• Mama's Boy: Has arguably the softest relationship with his mother of the Browns, probably a reason he fretted so much about coming out.

Mark Brown

Portrayed by Pat Shields

The oldest of the Brown boys.

• Elvis Impersonator: Mark does a pretty good impersonation of Elvis as the main King in the Nativity play.
• Flat Character: Other than him being mentioned to be a carpenter, there's not very much to know about Mark.
• Never Learned to Read: On account of dropping out of school to help support his mother after his father died.

• Singing Voice Dissonance: He has a pretty good singing voice, which sounds rather different from his normal speech.

Trevor Brown

Portrayed by Martin Delany ^note Brendan's son-in-law

Agnes' youngest son who is a priest and has spent most of his year doing missionary work in Africa.

• Everyone Has Standards: Trevor is a kind person, but even he (along with everyone) gets annoyed whenever Cathy brings up the time Mark tore her communion dress when she was a kid.
• Put on a Bus: Trevor mostly appears only during the Christmas episodes.

Grandad Brown

Portrayed by Dermot O'Neill ^note Long-time friend of Brendan's

Agnes' 90-something year old father-in-law. He always gets the end of Agnes' stick.

• Dirty Old Man: In the Valentine's Episode, he pops Viagra like a kid does candy. He also claims to be going for a threesome with a Molly and a Nelly.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Even non-family members call him Grandad instead of his real name.

• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He does indicate at times that he appreciates his daughter-in-law, in spite of all the (comedic) abuse she heaps on him. He also seems to have a good relationship with his grandkids and great grandson

Maria Brown

Portrayed by Fiona O'Carroll ^note Brendan's daughter

Dermot's wife and daughter of Hilary Nicholson. She can be quite snooty like her mother sometimes. She also becomes mother to triplets by the beginning of Season Two.

• Hospital Hottie: Maria's a nurse at a clinic and she's not bad-looking.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She starts out as this before she marries Dermot, but Maria warms up quickly to the Browns.
• Singing Voice Dissonance: Maria has a wonderful singing voice, which sounds significantly different from her normal, huskier-sounding speaking voice.

Betty Brown

Portrayed by Amanda Woods^note Brendan's daughter in law

Mark's wife and mother to Bono Brown.

Other Characters

Winnie McGoogan

Portrayed by Eilish O'Carroll ^note Brendan's sister

Agnes' best friend who hasn't really got a clue what is going on.

• The Ditz: So much so that she's diagnosed as demented after she butts in on a mental health test actually intended for Grandad.
• Happily Married: She always gushes about her husband Jacko and often reminisces about her sexual experiences with him out loud (the latter is much to the disgust of her tablemates).

Sharon McGoogan

Portrayed by Fiona Gibney

Winnie's daughter who is very rude to everyone.

• Really Gets Around: She flirts around with any man in the bar and once openly offers sex in front of a bar crowd to anyone who can guess the contents of a paper bag she's holding up. Her mom Winnie is apparently oblivious to her daughter's antics, as she's always confused whenever Agnes makes a snide remark about the topic and even thinks she's still a virgin.

Buster Brady

Portrayed by Danny O'Carroll ^note Brendan's son

Dermot's best friend who tries to get him back into petty crime. He's always coming up with entirely harebrained schemes that end up backfiring 99% of the time.

• Catchphrase: "Is Dermot in?", "Good mornin', Mrs Brown!"
• The Ditz: He is the stupidest character in the show. His lack of IQ beats even Winnie's, who actually recognises when Agnes is making fun of her.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed. He is a career criminal, which makes everyone think less of him, particularly Agnes and Maria. However, he is genuinely a nice guy and they tolerate him as they realize that he truly does have Dermot's best interests at heart.
  • A good example is when Maria furiously scolded him for coercing Dermot back into crime and demanded he leave, only for Buster to give keys to an empty apartment that he knew Dermot and Maria were looking to buy; Maria instantly apologizes.
  • Another is when it's pointed out that Buster helped Dermot get his advertising business up despite the fact Dermot couldn't afford to pay him, and never considered asking for backpay.
  • When he realised that he knew the man who stole Winnie's wedding ring, he tracked him down, beat the ever loving shit out of him (the man required a full body cast), and it brought back.

Dino

Portrayed by Gary Hollywood

Rory's Scottish boyfriend. He's usually on the receiving end of a slap from a tea towel from Mrs Brown (either accidentally or intentionally).

• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: One episode has Rory upset because he and Dino had a fight that resulted in Dino ripping a radiator off the wall. Averted when it turns out this was not an act of violence, Rory had left him handcuffed to the radiator.

Hillary Nicholson

Portrayed by Sorcha Cusack (for two episodes), then Susie Blake

Maria's snooty mother who is very rich and dislikes the Browns for being lower class than her family.

• Deadpan Snarker: Always has to have a battle of wits with Agnes every time they meet. With Agnes winning of course.

• Took a Level in Jerkass: Got a bit more proactively snide and callous towards Agnes after the actress switch, likely to make clearer Agnes was the good(er) guy of the two (in her initial appearance she only revealed her contemptuous side after Agnes' antics had pushed her past her ethical limit).

Father Quinn

Portrayed by Gary Lilburn

The parish priest from Season 1, but he was Put on a Bus for a while to go on rehab- a retreat.

• The Alcoholic: He turned to the bottle when his faith started wavering after beginning to lose parish-goers.
• Put on a Bus: Disappeared for a number of episodes to go on a "retreat".

Father Damien

Portrayed by Conor Moloney

The replacement priest who takes over Father Quinn's duties.