Brendan O'Carroll, star of Mrs Brown's Boys, has donated 2,500 Christmas dinners to charity.

The comedian has paid for the East region of the St Vincent De Paul (SVP) to supply Christmas dinners for 2,500 families. The food will be distributed to families in Dublin and Kildare.

Liam Casey, President of SVP East Region, told Independent.ie that the donation is "unbelievable".

"It is an imaginative yet practical way to help many families in need," Casey said of O'Carroll's donation.

"Our volunteers know that the families who benefit from his generosity not only appreciate his action but take extra pleasure in knowing that it comes with the compliments of Mrs Brown, an iconic and internationally famous Dublin mother."

O'Carroll has donated to the SVP numerous times before, and was named 'National Philanthropist of the Year' in 2015. He has written previously about how his own family was helped by the SVP, providing food and fuel to his mother when he was a child.