Based on the best selling autobiography by Irish expat Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes follows the adventures of young Frankie and his family as they try against all odds to escape the poverty endemic in the slums of pre-war Limerick. The film opens with your family in Brooklyn, but following the passing of one of Frankie's siblings, they come back home, just to come across the specific situation there even worse. Despite his having struggled for the IRA, prejudice against the Northern father of Frankie makes his hunt for job in the Republic difficult, so if he can find money, he spends the money on drink.