Christy Brown's Death
Much speculation surrounded Christy's death. Surely stirred by a lot of upset that was created when Mary Carr took Christy away from Dublin, the one place that was his lifeline and provided a lot of support and friendship from the time he was born.
Having read Christy's stories by different authors and from different angles and perspectives, the one thing that puzzled me most is the sadness over his untimely death.
I was just about to leave school when Christy and Mary moved to Parbrook where Christy saw his last year. How much I wished I would have known then and been able to see him and talk to him personally. What a character, what a personality, what a will to live and succeed.
Living just round the corner from Parbrook myself makes it hard that there is supposedly no source of information left to enquire about his last year.
Was it all good when they got married or was marrying Mary Carr already a step towards the end of his life. If yes, what has driven him this way? Was it the frustration over his relationship with the married American woman "Beth More" that seemingly ended in nothing.
Did he want to prove that he too could have a proper marriage like everybody else, build a life for himself and be happy and successful.
One key of shedding "some" light onto this may lie in the Christy Brown Biography "Christy Brown's Women" by Antony J. Jordan
Only close friends and relatives would be able to recall the real events of those days leading up to this life changing decision … but most or all people who have known him have now passed away.
Looking at Mary and knowing myself how hard it is to look after a disabled person 24/7 … did she have the best of intensions in the beginning? Was she determined to be a good wife and companion to Christy. Was she after the initial getting to know one another just simply overwhelmed by the amount of care Christy needed every day.
It is easy to point the finger. And yes, admittedly everything points in this direction that Mary might have been overwhelmed with the duty surrounding Christy and in a moment of neglect let everything slip including Christy's life. But no-one will ever know the true event's of those fatal days at Parbrook … this beautiful and peaceful little village on the edge of the Mendip Hills in Somerset.
