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PEOPLE ARE PAYING tribute this morning to the late actor John Hurt, who has passed away at the age of 77 following a battle with pancreatic cancer.

The actor was known for his performances in films like Alien, The Elephant Man, Midnight Express and the Harry Potter series.

Here in Ireland, Hurt was somewhat of an honorary Irishman, having spent many years living in both Co. Wicklow and Ballintubbert, Co. Laois.

But even when he moved from Ireland he couldn’t stay away, returning to star in Irish theatre productions like After Play and Krapp’s Last Tape in The Gate Theatre.

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Such was his affinity for the country that he was genuinely disappointed to learn that he didn’t have Irish blood when he appeared on the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are?

I am not who I believed I was. That really upsets me. I’m not going to dance with pleasure to find out that one of the bankers in my life isn’t true, am I? One of the bankers in my life was my Irish identity.

When I went to Ireland for the very first time, I felt that I was where I should be. I felt it was home.

As far as I was concerned I was Irish. My disappointment was that they had managed to prove that the one thing I thought I did have was Irish blood and I haven’t got any.

He eventually got over the disappointment, telling the Irish Independent in 2014 that he still had reason to believe that his grandmother was of Irish extraction.

But even if she didn’t, it didn’t really matter. As he put it:

Anyway, you’re really as Irish as you feel.

Photocall Ireland Photocall Ireland

Words to live by.

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