RONAN McGREEVY
Hollywood star Tom Cruise is to attend the premiere of his new film Oblivion in Dublin, Universal Pictures has confirmed.
He is also scheduled to be presented with a certificate of Irish ancestry from the Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.
Cruise, who was born Tom Cruise Mapother IV, has ancestry on his father's side in Kilteevan Co Roscommon and Co Dublin through both the Mapother and Cruise families.
The Gathering has commissioned geneological research which will demonstrate the connection definitively.
There has been a lot of speculation in the past about Cruise's Irish roots which are in Roscommon and Co Dublin, but new research will be unveiled on Wednesday which will show a more recent connection to Ireland than before.
The Mapother family were originally from Dorset, but have been in Ireland since Elizabethian times.
Cruise's great-great grandmother was the last Mapother ancestor to live in Ireland. She emigrated to the United States in the middle part of the 19th century.
Universal Pictures International Ireland general manager Dave Burke said: "We are thrilled Tom is returning to Ireland to launch his latest movie, Oblivion. It's a huge bonus that we can share this new information with Tom about his Dublin heritage."
Also accompanying Cruise on his visit will be director Joseph Kosinki and leading lady, former Bond girl, Olga Kurylenko. The premiere will be in Dublin's Savoy Cinema.
The Mayor of Roscommon Cllr Tom Crosby said he had requested to be allowed attended the presentation on behalf of the people of the county.
He said he hoped to persuade Cruise to attend a civic reception in the country at a later date.
It won’t be all welcomes for the actor. A group which is claiming to act under the Anonymous banner has said it will stage a protest outside the Savoy against the Scientology move which Cruise belongs to. It said it would encourage the actor "to build up the courage to leave".
