Francis McCourt was born in New York City on August 19, 1930. The eldest child of Irish Catholic immigrants, McCourt lived in New York with his parents and brothers. McCourt was raised by his grandparents.
Malachy, twins Oliver and Eugene, and Margaret, who passed away in 1934 just 21 days after her 1934 birth, are among his four younger siblings. The family relocated back to Ireland the same year that his sister passed away, in the heart of the Great Depression. At the age of 13, he stopped attending school.
