Mrs Brown’s Boys star Eilish O’Carroll has opened up about the harrowing domestic abuse she suffered at the hands of her first husband.

The actress, who plays Winnie in Mrs Brown’s Boys and is creator Brendan O’Carroll’s sister, was married twice before coming out as gay in her 40s.

Mrs Brown’s Boys star Eilish O’Carroll has opened up about the harrowing domestic abuse she suffered at the hands of her first husband.

The actress, who plays Winnie in Mrs Brown’s Boys and is creator Brendan O’Carroll’s sister, was married twice before coming out as gay in her 40s.

In tonight’s episode of Keys To My Life on RTÉ One, Ms O’Carroll goes back to the house in Reading, England, where she lived with her first husband and their two boys in the early 70s.

She tells host Brendan Courtney the relationship was ‘very abusive’, speaking through tears as she revisits the trauma.

‘I’d like to say [returning to the house] has freed me up a little bit, but it actually feels like somebody has just kicked me in the stomach,’ she admits.

‘Intellectually you’ve rationalised things. But your body, where it has taken the pain and where it is still living, hasn’t. And that’s what I’m feeling here, is a huge amount of sadness.’

The Dublin-born actress, who was the ninth of 10 children, says that ‘nobody talked about stuff like that’ at the time.

Keys to My Life returns to RTÉ One and RTÉ Player tonight, March 24, at 7:30pm.