Nell O'Brien

The matriarch of the O'Brien clan, Nell is warm, maternal and wise. When Megan, her son Mick's wife, abandoned him with a passel of young kids, Nell moved in and took over the rearing of the O'Brien brood. Throughout the decades, she has been the glue that has kept this fractious, fractured family together. She is all too aware of her loved ones' weaknesses and mistakes, but she never dictates a course of action for them, allowing them to find their own paths - sometimes later than sooner.