The Mrs. Brown’s Boys star and creator wouldn’t change anything about his life so far. His marriage with wife Jenny works because they have been married before and they are older
Brendan O’Carroll has said marriage is different the second time around because you’re older and you’ve more knowledge.
The Mrs. Brown’s Boys star and creator married his first wife Doreen quite young and together and they had four children.
He will celebrate 20 years of marriage to his wife and co-star Jenny Gibney next year and he feels lucky to have found love again.
Brendan told RSVP Magazine: “I was very young when I got married the first time. People are 30 to 35 when they get married these days, why weren’t we that sensible?
“I played with a football team and you were at a wedding every three or four months when all the lads got married. Then it became my turn and I was next.
“I didn’t think about what the marriage was going to be like in 10 or 20 years, I just got married. You don’t discuss if your dreams are going to match their dreams.
“If your dreams don’t match each other, you shouldn’t get married. You’re very naive the first time.”
However, Brendan added that he wouldn’t change anything.
He said: “I’ve four fantastic kids who brought great happiness to me. The second time around is a different ballgame. Do you see yourself sitting by the fire with this person when you’re 90 years of age?
“You don’t think about that when you’re 19. You think about that when you’re 49, as I was when I got married again.”
Brendan said that the conversations are different when you are older because you have experienced more of life both together and apart.
He added: “The conversations are different. Both of us have been married before and we’re older, so we’ve a lot more to talk about.
“It’s different the second time around if you’re lucky, and I got lucky, trust me. I’m boxing way above my weight.”
Brendan will turn 70 next year and, for him, each decade gotten better and better as life has gone on.
He said: “The saying, ‘I wish I knew then what I know now’ very much applies to age, as is the saying, ‘Youth is wasted on the young’.
“I think back to what I could have done and what I could have said. But I’ve no regrets whatsoever.
“If I went tomorrow, touch wood that I don’t, I would say, ‘What a ride’.”
Tune into Mrs. Brown’s Boys on New Year’s Eve on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player
