“The pigeon lady was very much on her own:” Brenda Fricker will be spending Christmas alone

"The pigeon lady was very much on her own."

Brenda Fricker, who famously appeared alongside Macauley Culkin as the Pigeon Lady in Home Alone 2, has said that she usually spends Christmas alone. The Oscar winner, who hails from Dublin's The Liberties, said this week that the festive season is generally quite a lonely time for her - and for many others. Fricker told Ray D'Arcy on RTÉ's Radio 1 how she usually gets through Christmas and the New Year. "I would be lying if I said that it would be a nice and happy Christmas because I'm one of those people, I'm old and I live alone and it can be very dark," she said. "I just turn the phones off, put the blinds down. I pre record some good programmes and films and I have my dog and I get myself through it that way. "I don't find Christmas all that difficult but what I do find very difficult is New Year's Eve," she added. "All the bells are ringing and there's no one to turn around to, hug or smile at. "I can't get away from bells in the Liberties, they're everywhere." Fricker, who won an Oscar for her performance in My Left Foot, added that unsurprisingly, she hasn't kept in touch with Macauley Culkin since starring in Home Alone 2 together. "I don't hear from Macauley Culkin but I worry about him," she said. "I remember when we were shooting, the trailers were all parked along by Central Park and his mum was in one of them. "I just went in to say hello to her and we ended up becoming quite friendly. She was telling me that they didn't have even a washing machine before Macauley was picked up for that film." Fricker won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1990 for her role in My Left Foot. She has long been considered to be one of Ireland's greatest actors, later starring in The Field, Inside I'm Dancing, and Veronica Guerin.