An "ordinary couple" from Mayo stole the show when James Bond star Pierce Brosnan and Ms Keely Shaye Smith were married at Ballintubber Abbey in Co Mayo on Saturday.
Hello! magazine, which had exclusive rights to the wedding photos, had imposed heavy constraints on the event, so that all a gathering of local people saw of Brosnan was an extended clenched fist through the window of his Mercedes as he arrived at the abbey. The bride was also conspicuous by her near invisibility.
Both bride and groom entered the church under the cover of large sheets - green for him, white for her - which were draped over the wedding cars as they came to a standstill.
But three hours previously, while they waited for the celebrity arrivals, the crowd clapped when newly-weds Mr Michael Monaghan from Balla and Carmel Cryan from Bohola left the abbey in an open-topped Phantom Bentley convertible. The couple stole the show by hiring the Bentley. "Pierce requested the vehicle but Carmel and Michael had it already booked," chauffeur Mr Eamon Walkin explained.
Pierce and Keely sent a bottle of champagne and cards to the couple. Ms Cryan, who works in a Castlebar supermarket, said: "We're having a lovely day and we hope that Pierce and Keely have it just as good."
Editor-in-Chief of Hello! Phil Hall, fed titbits to the media, including the fact that the groom's sons by his former marriage, Sean and Chris, were grooms men, and the marquee for the reception in the grounds of Ashford Castle on the edge of Lough Corrib was bedecked in flowers to give the impression of an "enchanted garden".
The Chieftains played during the wedding ceremony and reception. The ceremony was performed by Mgr John Fleming, rector of the Irish College in Rome, a friend of Brosnan.
The reception included a midnight fireworks display against the backdrop of the moonlit lake, and was described as "enchanting" by an insider yesterday.
Guests, who were piped into the castle by Mattie Dowd of the Balla Pipe Band, dined on a choice of Cleggan lobster or chicken with herb stuffing. A six-tier wedding cake formed the centrepiece.
Apart from being wed, the Brosnans also baptised their three-month-old son Paris at the weekend.