Brenda Fricker, Beloved ‘Home Alone 2’ Star, Dead at 81

Brenda Fricker, the Oscar-winning actress who is best known to so many fans as the Pigeon Lady in "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York," has died ... TMZ has confirmed.

Her agent, Phil Belfield, tells TMZ ... Fricker passed away peacefully Thursday night in Dublin, after a period of ill health.

He says ... "We will never see her like again and the world is lesser for the lack of her. I was honored to know, love and work with her and she will always have a place in my heart and in the heart of so many film and TV fans the world over."

Fricker won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1990 for playing Daniel Day-Lewis' on-screen mother in "My Left Foot" -- but most '80s & '90s kids know her from 'Home Alone 2' and "Angels in the Outfield."

She was 81.