US TALK show legend Conan O’Brien has spoken of his desire to return to Ireland in the not-too-distant future.
The Tonight Show star was born in Massachusetts to Irish Catholic parents.
His ancestors emigrated to America some 150 years ago from their original home in County Dublin and O’Brien is eager to reconnect with those roots.
Speaking to Ryan Tubridy on The Late Late Show, O’Brien displayed plenty of the razor-sharp wit he honed as one of the original writers of The Simpsons.
The 57-year-old had Tubridy in stitches explaining while his Irish complexion makes him better suited to Ireland’s inclement conditions rather than the searing Los Angeles climate.
He said: "My body immediately responds to being in Ireland because every single cell in my body says, 'Yes there's no sun out,' and my skin says, 'Yes you are home'.
"Let me explain to you I am living near the Mexican boarder and it's killing me I cannot live in this environment, I am not meant for this environment.
"I have dermatologists who I see every six months and he says to me, 'Get out of this country, go back home, you are supposed to live in a bog, you idiot'."
The hilarious @ConanOBrien tells Ryan why he's keen to get back to his Irish roots and it's not why you might think 😂#LateLate pic.twitter.com/Bq0zsGVzyB
— The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) November 13, 2020
O’Brien also spoke about his Irish heritage and how he was misdirected to Dungarvan in Co Waterford during the last visit to his ancestral home.
He explained: "The first time that I came back to Ireland I got out of my car and I rolled down the window and I said, 'Is this Dungarvan?' and someone said, 'Yes this is Dungarvan'.
"I got out and I kissed the ground and someone else walked by and said, 'What are you doing?' and I said, 'I am from Dungarvan so I'm kissing the ground'.
"They said, 'You idiot Dungarvan is 20 kilometers down the road this isn't Dungarvan,' and if you kiss the wrong soil there is nothing more horrible."
O’Brien signed off by promising Tubridy the pair would meet up for a well-earned Guinness on his next visit to the Emerald Isle.
He said: "I think we will put this behind us sometime in the next couple of months.
"I will come to Ireland and you and I will go out and we will get some Guinness."
