TV presenter and comedian Paul O'Grady's love of Ireland runs deep. So deep, in fact, that he has turf sent over to his home in England.
Speaking to Ryan Tubridy on RTÉ Radio 1 on Friday, the For the Love of Dogs star said: "I have pallets of turf! I love the smell of it – I sit there and I just smell [it]. And that to me is the smell of Ireland: a turf fire with a frying pan with rashers going on and a bit of black pudding."
O'Grady's family, the Gradys, hail from Galway and Roscommon. He grew up in the Irish community in Birkenhead in Merseyside with visits back to Ireland twice a year. The 'O' was added to his surname when his father emigrated and then joined the RAF. "I don't think he could be bothered changing it!", O'Grady joked.
"He actually came over to England because he couldn't do the work on the farm. It was only when he got to England and they discovered that he had TB and that's why. He was a true Irishman, my father. Through and through."
O'Grady's appreciation of his Irish heritage deepened when he spent time filming in Kilmainham Gaol for his "two-second performance" in Jim Sheridan's In the Name of the Father.
"I remember me dad when we were kids, he used to say, 'We're related to Irish royalty'. We all just used to laugh at him. He'd say, 'King Atholl of Glinsk' – and there's actually a Glinsk Castle!
"I'm thinking now, 'I wonder is there any truth in it?' I quite fancy being Irish royalty. I know with my luck I'll be in the kitchens scrubbing the floors! A scullery maid I'd be – doing the pots!"
O'Grady has just published the latest volume of his memoirs, Open the Cage, Murphy!, which chronicles his adventures in showbusiness.
