What is Malachy Sr. like?

Malachy McCourt is Frank's father, a proud Irishman raised in northern Ireland. His alcoholism and his inability to hold down a job is a constant theme in the book, but Malachy manages to earn affection from his children. Malachy is a tortured but sensitive man who fought for the Irish Republican Army and often returns home at night, drunk, getting his sons out of bed to join him in singing plaintive Irish battle songs.