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Rosie O’Donnell revisits her Irish roots for new Oprah show

Says her family was poorer than ‘Angela’s Ashes’ Frank McCourt’s

Published Thursday, February 10, 2011, 7:15 AM

Updated Thursday, February 10, 2011, 11:40 AM

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THE VIEW - ROSIE O'DONNELL (CREDIT: ABC/ DONNA SVENNEVIK)

Photo by �2006 American Broadcasting Comp

Appearing recently on the television show “Who Do You Think You Are?”, Rosie O’Donnell got the opportunity to take a close look at her Irish roots.

O’Donnell has often spoke about the heartache of losing her mother when she was only 10. The comedian has been very open about her personal battles with depression and going public with being gay.

Before the show began, the native Long Islander said she was hesitant about what the show would uncover.

"I guess I didn’t want to find out that they lived a life like ‘Angela’s Ashes,’ the Frank McCourt book. And I came to find out it was very similar, if not even harder than the life that Frank McCourt lived, so that was really shocking to me, I think,” she told Examiner.com.

“I really never knew anything about my mother’s side of the family, and so I decided to take this journey with my brother Ed, and I think that was very healing for our relationship. And when I came home and was able to share with my kids some of the stuff that I knew, I think it gave me a way to re-frame my own life.”

Researchers for the show discovered that O’Donnell’s mother and father were much invested in their Irish heritage, something she says changed the way she viewed herself and her “connection to Ireland.”

“We did end up in Ireland, as you might guess from the name O’Donnell. And it was pretty overwhelming to find out some things about the country of Ireland that happened there regarding the people who were suffering during the Potato Famine and what they had to endure.

“I didn’t really know anything about it and it was quite overwhelming,” she said.

Speaking about her new show on the new Oprah Winfrey Network, O’Donnell compared her program, which will debut this falll, to Winfrey’s own long-running talk fest.

“It’s not going to be a bunch of guests coming in to promote a movie. It’s going to be a single topic, one hour, similar to hers. Although nobody can come close to doing what she actually did. That will be the format that we’re copying,” she said.

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Snowdrop | Jul 20, 2011, 05:40 AM EDT

...and another thing. Who would even watch "Who Do You Think You Are?" if the focus was not on celebrities of varied cultural backgrounds? Do you think the general public wants to watch some nobody? To execute programs like this takes extreme, detailed planning and clipping footage to provide a clear, full story line. Yea Rosie. I was very happy to see you represent our Irish culture and admire you for saying it like it is, especially with an Irish Catholic background that historically, and still, encourages smothering feelings and family lore, to the point of people losing their minds.

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Snowdrop | Jul 20, 2011, 05:31 AM EDT

I never read so many jealous and judgmental posts, although some pople have a keen eye for promulgating such hate for Rosie. As if every family of Irish origin doesn't have its own dysfunctions. Back to the positive aspects of such professional, ancestral research...Rosie returned to NYC's Calvary Cemetery (off camera) to erect headstones for her Irish brood, where not existed. Not an overnight or inexpensive task, and a true, loyal culmination of what she gleaned from her TV trips and exposure. Staff there told me how politely she treated them, and how she had to go through the same process as any non-celeb. I'd love to talk with her about my own Kildare branch.

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mollymguire | Feb 22, 2011, 11:46 AM EST

O'Donnell has had her problems, but a lot of people are learning she's a good person by her radio show. Howard Stern is one her big fans & a lot of his listeners would be surprised by that. She's done a lot of good for all manners of people. I feel sorry for homophobes & prejudiced people. I'm reminded of "Irish need not apply". And I don't expect she'll embrace her Catholic religion even if she spent many Sunday mornings on her knees there. I'll always be a fan, through all her mistakes, and even in the times I don't agree with her. There are many, many people who don't really know her.

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pilib04 | Feb 13, 2011, 07:24 PM EST

The first time I heard Rosie O'Donnell she was doing a stand-up comedy routine. She was hysterical. I always assumed with the name, looks and accent that she knew her roots. Great that she is looking into things. Always ready to welcome the Diaspora back.

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CTirishgrandma | Feb 12, 2011, 05:52 PM EST

I hate publicity stunts like this by so called celebrities. Anyone with the resources she has who waits until a TV show will investigate her roots for her doesn't care about her Irish heritage - only about what the sympathy and money will get her. Next she will be proclaiming what a great Catholic she is now.

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lookbackkid | Feb 11, 2011, 06:45 AM EST

It's good to have a celebrity platform to reveal "our" Irish History.

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hughaed | Feb 10, 2011, 11:58 PM EST

If you think Rosie O'Donnell isn't up to your standards you should have a good listen to O'Reilly & Hannity, both with Irish roots who regard liberal & democrat as derogatory terms. Almost every Irish immigrant who came to America instinctively knew that the free enterprise system, without regulation, would be in the long run destructive to their own livelihood. Now we have the Hannity-O'Reilly type who have rejected the lessons of history in such glib and amnesiac fashion. At least Rosie O'Donnell has glimpsed some history of the famine & its causes. The Famine & the generations of suffering it brought was largely the result of British policies of laissez Faire capitalism of the 1830s. Those 19th century non-interference with business policies had much in common with the Reaganomics which continues to be admired by right wing pundits & media purveyors of half-truths. It's dispiriting to see that so many Irish-Americans have forgotten the painful lessons of history.

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Advocate | Feb 10, 2011, 10:15 PM EST

They let her visit? How very sad for the Irish People. At least she was gone from America for a short time.... Was she able to find a hairdresser while there? (She never found one here...) Another part of our status of Moral Bankruptcy... Yahweh/God is obviously very upset with us!

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cillowen | Feb 10, 2011, 01:26 PM EST

A crazy of unbelieveable proportions. She's useful as the Irish looney model of a dysfunctional people. Wish we had as a model the courage of the Egyptians.

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hyattsville | Feb 10, 2011, 12:55 PM EST

Yes she’s a big mouth and has alienated a lot of people over the years but she has a tremendous social conscience having donated $100 million to charity through the years. She is also a great spokeswoman for the downtrodden. @antoman – I think you mean the Isle of Lesbos in the Aegean whose residents are known as Lesbians and don’t necessarily have Sapphic leanings.

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antoman | Feb 10, 2011, 11:04 AM EST

There really is an actual Isle of Lesbia.

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mrkennedy | Feb 10, 2011, 10:46 AM EST

Often wonder how she interprets that GOD created Adam and Eve and not Adam & John!

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Annetherese | Feb 10, 2011, 10:14 AM EST

It's good that Rosie O'Donnell is getting connected with her Irish roots. I hope that she can just be proud of her heritage and not let herself get depressed over the past just as she came out and admitted that she is gay. We are all equally created and the Lord died for all of us, not just one single group over another. I think it's great that OPrah is airing a show on Rosie O'Donnell. I never learned about the Potato Famine until I was nearly in my 40s. Hope you feel good Rosie.

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kiernan | Feb 10, 2011, 09:49 AM EST

Too bad. She is such a jerk I wish she found out she was French or something.

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22Tango | Feb 10, 2011, 09:27 AM EST

I like Rosie. She speaks from her heart and has done wonderful charitable works in America for children for decades now. I'm proud she's Irish and has the courage to speak out on important issues.

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