Mrs. Brown's Boys is a sitcom produced by BBC Scotland in partnership with BocPix and RTÉ, written by and starring Brendan O'Carroll. Originally a radio series starting in 1992, the series became more and more popular, which led to the television series debut on 1 January 2011.

There was another DVD series which was not shown on television, prior to the current television series.

The Brown Family Agnes Brown

Agnes Loretta BrownMrs. Brown's A-Y of Everything is the protagonist and the loud-mouth matriarch in the BBC comedy series Mrs. Brown's Boys and the host of the 2017 BBC entertainment show All Round to Mrs Brown's.

A mother of six children, widow of Redser and carer for Grandad, she is known for her no-nonsense, somewhat rude and colourful approach to the family and in the lives of her children and Grandad, dealing with everything that goes on without the blink of an eye. However karma seems to make up for her behaviour, making her the subject of jokes, pranks and mistakes that are a result of revenge, jealousy, or simply misfortune, causing much laughter to the audience and viewers. For Agnes, being nice is one of her weaknesses and she is very disorganised sometimes.

Agnes appears along with Cathy in the 2022 Netflix film A Madea Homecoming to attend the graduation party of her great-nephew Davi (whose grandfather was Redser's brother). The film's handling of the issue of Black Irish identity received positive press.Mary Burke. “Why Brendan O’Carroll's ‘Mammy’ Brown Became ‘Mummy’ Brown.” RTÉ (Irish national broadcaster) website, 2 March 2022. https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2022/0303/1284105-brendan-ocarroll-mrs-browns-boys-tyler-perry-madea-homecoming/

Grandad

Harold Brown, better known as Grandad, is the father of the late Redser and father-in-law to Agnes.

In the episode "The Mammy" in 2011, Mrs Brown states Grandad is 92.

Grandad is fairly fit for his age, being able to walk without a stick and is seen very nearly running in one episode. He gets on well with the family; however, with Agnes, this is a different matter altogether. The two have a deep rivalry, and are sometimes, quite horrible and mean to each other, examples of which include Agnes forcing Grandad to sing a Western song and hitting him with a tray; Grandad trapping Agnes behind the Christmas tree; Agnes trying to get rid of Grandad for two weeks and Grandad referring to her as "The Twat".

Despite their animosity to each other, Agnes and Grandad have been shown to genuinely care for each other, even if they conceal it very well. On Valentine's Day, Grandad gave some flowers to Agnes and admitted that he thought his son was foolish for taking Agnes for granted. On another occasion, when Grandad was to go to the hospital for tests, Grandad admitted to Agnes that he was afraid, prompting Agnes to give him a pep talk to boost his spirits.

When the Brown children were growing up, Grandad played a small role in their lives. He would take them on a walk to the betting shop where he would spend the day. He still looks out for the children, but not as much. Bono enjoys playing with (or in his view, tormenting) him. Grandad has long white hair and is most often seen in his armchair, sleeping. In World War II, he was part of the bomb squad. His wife's name has not been mentioned.

Grandad also features in All Round to Mrs. Brown's where he is normally seen sleeping in his chair while Agnes and Cathy interview guests. He was absent from Series 4 because portrayer Dermot O'Neill was unable to attend filming while receiving treatment for cancer.

Mark Brown

Mark Brown is the eldest Brown child, the husband to Betty and the father to Bono.

Mark became the head of the family aged twenty-six, when his father died suddenly. He is the quietest too, often being coaxed into things by his wife. He was born on his parents' wedding day; Agnes's waters broke just after the couple said 'I do'. He was offered a promotion at work, but turned it down. The result was that Betty kicked him out and he turned up at his mother's house, feeling depressed and tired. He turned down the job because, despite attending school for eight years and not even missing one single day, he did not learn to read or write. Agnes, feeling guilty, blamed herself until Cathy pointed out that if in eight years that he failed to learn, it was the teachers' fault. The problem is resolved when Betty says that she is determined to teach him.

Later on, there was no work going in the carpentry world, and Mark was made redundant. He and Betty had no choice other than to move from Finglas to Australia. Mark was reluctant to tell his mother, but Betty forced him to. Although putting on a brave face, Agnes was mortified, sitting silent for the rest of the day. When the visas for the three came through, Agnes found it even harder. However, Betty asked Cathy to print something at work for her; Cathy did so and soon, Mark found himself with more work than he could handle. The sheets that were photocopied turned out to be promotional leaflets, which Betty posted through some letterboxes. The family did not emigrate to Australia, and the couple let their son Bono – Agnes's favourite relative – break the good news. Mark would have moved to England if Trevor had stayed at the Brown Residence instead of going to Africa. In the 2025 series of the show, Mark has been wearing glasses.

In the 2025 Christmas special, it's revealed that Mark and Betty have split up.

Rory Brown

Rory Brown is the third son of the Brown family.

Rory is the only homosexual in the family, a fact acknowledged by all of his family members except his mother, who seemed completely oblivious to the fact until she realises this with Cathy's intervention in "Mammy of the Groom". Rory is not married until the end of Season 3, when he marries fellow hairdresser Dino Doyle in a private ceremony.

His sexuality is hinted at in "Mammy's Secret" when Rory tries to tell Agnes in Foley's; however, he is unable to do so. It is also hinted at later on in that episode when Agnes is having a discussion with Cathy and she says that Rory wants to tell her something, but is afraid that it will hurt her. This is also hinted at even more when the family is discussing who is coming to Dermot and Maria's wedding, when Rory said that he won't be bringing a girl. Rory was apparently caught wearing his sister's communion dress when he was about 10 years old.

Agnes is the only character not to know about his homosexuality up until "Mammy of the Groom" in which she describes it as an illness. Until then, she was completely unaware of this and even Agnes' best friend, Winnie McGoogan, knew that Rory was homosexual.

Rory is one of three of Agnes's children to wear glasses, the others being Trevor and Mark.

Rory Cowan quit the role in July 2017 after 26 years of playing the character both on screen and in theatre, stating that he had not been happy for two years, although he did not state the reason for this.

It was announced that the character would be recast and the replacement would be revealed on the 2017 Christmas Day special. During the 2017 live tour for the November – December shows the role was played by Pat "Pepsi" Shields. Damien McKiernan was revealed to be the new Rory, making his first appearance during the 2017 Christmas Day special.

It was revealed in October 2020 that Rory had been written out of the programme after McKiernan and fellow actor Gary Hollywood quit the show following a pay dispute. Rory's absence from the 2020 Christmas special is explained by Agnes telling the viewers that he and Dino travelled to Wuhan to make their own brand of hairdryer, and have not been able to get back home to Ireland. Rory and Dino haven't appeared on the show from December 25, 2020, onwards. Rory does get mentioned sometimes on the show as well as Dino.

As of the 2025 New Year Special, Rory is still in Wuhan according to his mother.

Cathy Brown

Catherine "Cathy" Brown is Agnes' only daughter in the Brown family.

She is a lonely middle-aged woman who is on the look-out for a man, but is put off by her mother and what her mother usually has to say about her boyfriends. In Series 1 it is revealed that Cathy had been married once in a London register office, and the man she married was beating her – she is not divorced as of Series 1. Her past romances include Teddy Brannigan, the local bad boy; Professor Thomas Clowne, her psychology teacher; and Mick, who is a police officer. It was revealed by Maria Brown that Mick was already married. It was revealed later in the series that Mick divorced his last wife, and they then get back together. Cathy claims that he's more sensitive. Later in the series, when Cathy is expecting a surprise romance holiday to Venice, Mick states that he is going to Cork for work. Cathy is automatically suspicious and decides to take a walk by the airport. When she discovers Mick is there with a young woman, she decides to "tip customs off that they are drug smugglers." In the New Year's Day 2015 episode, Cathy leaves for a fertility clinic in London in the hope of becoming pregnant.

Cathy also appears in All Round to Mrs Brown's in which she hosts a segment called "The Cathy Brown Show" where she and Agnes would interview celebrities.

The episode Orange Is The New Mammy states that Cathy's birthday is 6 July, but in 'Mammy's Memories?' Buster states her birthday is 29 February.

Cathy appears along with Agnes in the 2022 Netflix film A Madea Homecoming to attend Agnes' great-nephew Davi's graduation party.

Cathy is portrayed by O'Carroll's real-life wife Jennifer Gibney.

Dermot Brown

Dermot Brown is the fourth child in the family and the child that causes his mother the most worry.

In his early years, he attended a private school recommended by a judge, and it is there that he met his lifelong friend Buster Brady. He later met and proposed to Maria Nicholson and the two married. Dermot gained a job as a promoter, a job which involves walking around the streets in various large and embarrassing costumes. Dermot and Maria had triplet sons, named after The Beatles: John, George and Ringo. Maria was initially against Dermot naming the children ("Your family doesn't have a great track record with names; you have a nephew named after a dog biscuit!"), but was soon swayed by his mostly normal names. The two love each other deeply, but Maria despises Buster, who regularly turns up with a criminal scam and tries to get Dermot involved.

Dermot is portrayed by Clyde Carroll in the original series and Paddy Houlihan (who originally played Trevor in the original series and a real-life friend of Danny O'Carroll) in the BBC series.

He is also married to Emily Regan, who plays the "Wash and Blow" trainee, Barbara and has two girls, who are twins.

Trevor Brown

Trevor Brown is the youngest child and the kindest of the Brown children.

Years ago, he was very nearly not home for one Christmas, despite spending 4 years on the missions (from 2007 to 2011), which was the longest period of time of him on the missions, much to Agnes's dismay (everyone else knew). However, in the middle of the party, Trevor walks through the door and Agnes bursts into tears overjoyed. When he leaves for the missions in Series Two, he tells Agnes that he doesn't want a big fuss like last time, his exact words being "no cake, no decorations, no brass band and please, Mammy, no tears". Agnes disobeys him and orders everything. Another Christmas time, Agnes is reading the letters her children sent to Father Christmas, and reads Trevor's from the past. When he was a young boy, Trevor asked for his presents to be given to a poor boy with no toys.