Paul O’Grady once considered buying his grandfather’s home in Roscommon.
The late star – who died unexpectedly on Tuesday night – previously revealed he spent many summers in Ireland visiting his grandparents.
Speaking last year, he said: “I’ve lots of family in Ireland – mainly from Roscommon and a couple in Dublin. I’ve such a good time over there.
“We were considering buying my grandad’s house in Roscommon.
READ MORE: Paul O’Grady dead: Tributes to comic with ‘strong Irish heritage’ after ‘unexpected’ death aged 67
"It was a lovely cut-stone farmhouse, but they were using it for cattle storage. It didn’t have a roof and everything had fallen to bits. I also thought when would I go there, and what would I do?
“I did consider moving to Dublin at one stage. I was looking at property in Drumcondra ... but listen, I can go anywhere. People laugh at me because I’ll visit somewhere new and say, ‘I could live here!’. I get fond of a hotel room."
Paul's family, the Gradys, are from Galway and Roscommon. His father, Paddy, grew up in Ballincurry, Co. Roscommon, before moving to England in 1936 and settling in the working-class area of Birkenhead.
The 'O' was added to his second name in a paperwork mistake when his dad emigrated the country and joined the RAF.
He previously told RTE's Ryan Tubridy: "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." His mother Molly was born in England to Irish immigrants from Co. Louth.
He spoke warmly of his Irish roots and his childhood summers spent in Ireland during his appearance on the Late Late Show on RTÉ One in November 2008.
"I used to come every year 'til God knows when," he told host Pat Kenny at the time. "We spent every summer in Ireland. We always had a stop-off in Dublin off the boat."
He went on to tell Kenny that he had a farm "because of Ireland".
"I was brought up on the farm," he explained of his trips home to his roots. And I thought, 'If I ever get a few bob, never mind fancy cars and all that - I'm going to get a bit of land and a cow."
The broadcaster and comedian went on to discuss his memories of growing up in an Irish household in Birkenhead, Merseyside. "Me dad, he was on the family farm. He wasn't actually keen on farming, me dad, so he came over to England.
"He was also a drummer in an Irish band, you know the ones that went 'round doing the carnivals? I don't know how good he was. I remember seeing a photo of him as a child - sweat pouring off him and on top of the piano was about 28 pints of Guinness! I thought, 'That's me oul man, battering away'.
"On a Sunday, he'd go out and he'd have a drink. He'd come back and he'd sing, 'Just Molly and me and the baby make three' [from the song My Blue Heaven].
"Well, we're not a touchy-feely family, so me mother would be knitting and you'd think, 'Gotta watch her with those needles - she'll have ya!'
"I'd be gone out the back door and down the back entry with sheer shame while me dad stood and sang. Anything of Tommy Makem's and the Clancy Brothers, he was there - he knew all the words."
He also told how he would get pallets of turf sent to his UK home because it was the "smell of Ireland" for him.
He added: "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."
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