| A | B |
| Poughkeepsie | Frank's ship first anchored here in America |
| Father Gregory | Kind Franciscan priest who said Theresa was in Heaven |
| Aunt Aggie | He/she bought Frank new clothes for his job |
| Mr. Kane | Worker at the Dispensary, he humiliated Mam |
| Alphie | Mam said she would have no more children after his birth |
| Laman Griffin | Mam has sex with him so he'll let her family stay in his house |
| Begging at the Rectory | Frank viewed this as the worst thing his mother could do |
| Uncle Pat | Frank moved in with him after Laman beat Frank up |
| Uncle Pa | He enjoys having the McCourts stay with him while their mother is ill |
| Typhoid Fever | Frank was hospitalized for 3 1/2 months for this |
| Seamus | This hospital custodian recited poetry |
| Patricia Madigan | Frank was punished for talking with her at the Fever Hospital |
| Theresa Carmody | Frank feared he caused her soul to be damned because he had sex with her |
| Mrs. Barry | Supervisor at the post office, he/she was nasty to the boys |
| Mrs. Finucane | Frank wrote threatening letters for her |
| Mr. Hannon | Frank helped him deliver coal |
| Malachy | He winds up in England shoveling coal |
| Mr. McCaffrey | Frank works for him delivering the Irish Times |
| Mr. Sliney | Mam gets a job taking care of this old man |
| Quasimodo | Physically handicapped boy who wants to be an announcer for the BBC |
| Mr. O'Halloran | Frank's teacher, he encourages him to go to America |
| Conjunctivitis | This eye disease troubled Frank for years |
| Mr. Timoney | Frank used to read to this man; he saw him again at the City Home Hospital |
| Woodbines | Brand of cigarettes |
| America | Frank believes everyone lives happily here |
| Ab or The Abbott | Uncle Pat's nickname |