The film My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown encapsulates all that makes Irish acting, theater, writing and film making so compelling. Christy Brown was born into a poor, working class family in 1932 Dublin with severe cerebral palsy.

Encouraged by a loving mother, the incapacitated child learned to communicate through writing and painting with his left foot (and nearly unintelligible speech laced with numerous profanities!)

Christy developed a sufficient skill set to write his autobiography My Left Foot, published in 1954. This funny, poignant work was brought to the screen by Director Jim Sheridan, receiving Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay. And Dublin’s Brenda Fricker (Best Supporting Actress), Daniel Day-Lewis (Best Actor) as Christy Brown took home the gold statuette. Daniel is the son of Irish-born Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis.