HOW TOM CRUISE GOT A SLAP IN KILGARVAN

In A Listening Ear, Michael HealyRae tells the tale that in 1991, when Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were in Ireland to make the movie Far And Away, Tom got a whack across the hand in The Loo Bridge Bar outside Kilgarvan from a local character named Ger The Manny.

In the chapter entitled ‘Two Yanks and One Slap Across the Hand’, Michael writes that when Matt, the owner of the bar, “was gone… didn’t the Yank lean in over the counter. As he was about to reach out to get something, Ger The Manny grabbed his walking stick and tried to land the Yank’s hand with a ferocious belt.

“Matt came running out. ‘Ger! Christ, what’s wrong?’ he asked.

“‘Ha! That so and so was leaning in over the counter trying to steal your fags,’ said Ger, pointing the stick while practically frothing with temper.

“The shocked Yank looked at him, put out his two hands and said, ‘My goodness, I’m so sorry. All I was doing was leaning in to try and get a little bit more ice.’”