Cruise relaxes in Páidí Ó Sé’s

September 1991

THE TIGHT ring of security which has surrounded Tom Cmlae and his wife Nicole Kidman, their house and virtually anything else they came in contact with since arriving in Ventry was relaxed on Monday evening when the star went walkabout. Up to then he had spent six days in Kerry being shuttled at high speed in a top-of-the-range wine BMW seven series, followed by another carload of bodyguards. He had his own cook to cater for himself and Nicole at Church Farm, where the house was also cordoned off, and didn’t show himself to the public too much. The security was relaxed after Monday’s final shoot, however, when Cruise paid a courtesy call on Paidi O Se at his Ventry pub. Although he’s no six-footer, Cruise is well-built and stocky and he clearly had a lot in common with the former Kerry captain.

In fact, Paidi invited him to train with the Gaeltacht football club on Thursday night and said there might even be a spot for him in the West Kerry backline.

Then Cruise raised the Ford Centenary Cup aloft - which O Se as Kerry captain won in 1984;

“So this is what it feels like,” said the star.

Speaking exclusively to The Kerryman, Cruise said his spirits had not been dampened by the wet Irish weather.

“I like it, really,” he said. “It looks really great on camera. You would want to see it.” He also revealed that he sat through Ryan’s Daughter for the fifth time on a cosy night in with Nicole on Sunday night. He thought the David Lean movie was “great”.

Cruise, casually dressed in jeans, a leather jacket, T-shirt and a baseball cap, was in good spirits after his shoot. And his winkle-picker football boots would have come in handy in the backline of any West Kerry football team. His face was muddied and his cheeks red after a tough day on the film set on the cliffside at Fan which hugs the Atlantic coastline, but he admitted that his “hardship” was nothing compared with that of local character Mike Long.

So, he bought Mike a pint of Guinness and told barman David Connor to keep the change of a £20 note. Cruise was having none of the black creamy stuff himself, however, choosing a pint of water instead when it came to Paidi O Se’s twist. He posed for photographs with Paidi’s family, his wife Maire and daughters Siun, 2, and Neassa, 3, and Paidi’s mother Beatrice. Then he went inside the counter to take a few tips on the art of pulling a pint from barstaff Thomas Ashe, Baile Moir, and Fiona Knightley, Annascaul.

Incidentally, Nicole wasn’t with him — she is said to have flown back to the States that day.

Before leaving, Tom Cruise presented Paidi with Far and Away T-shirts and, not to be outdone, Paidi had two Aran sweaters for Tom and Nicole knitted by the renowned Lane family of Blarney — as well as his own Paidi O’Se’s pub personalised jumpers. “Boy am I going to be warm for the winter,” Cruise joked.

After his 20-minute stay he sped off in the direction of Dingle to take up residence in his “new” home.

Captain and Chairman of the Castlegregory Golf and Fishing Club, Martin Rice tees off.