The night Lawrence of Arabia crashed Connacht Tribune party

 It was a January night in 1968 when staff of the Connacht Tribune in Galway celebrated an apprentice ‘completing his time’ and a very welcome ‘gatecrasher’ joined in the revelry . . . the world famous actor Peter O’Toole.

 The star of Lawrence of Arabia six years previously, O’Toole had been staying in the Great Southern Hotel, and had asked barman Brian Ferry where he might ‘head for’ to sample a bit of craic for the night.

“We headed for Patsy Glynn’s bar in Mary Street (formerly Laffeys and now the Asian Lounge) where a gang from the Connacht Tribune were having a party. It was a great night out and a late night too,” Mr Ferry recalled yesterday.

This week, following his passing on Saturday last at a London hospital, memories of O’Toole’s visit to the city have been recalled by many people, including Connacht Tribune staff photographer of the time, Stan Shields.

“I remember being at the party for one of the lads having served his time as an apprentice and we were pretty chuffed when Peter O’Toole landed in.

“I made my way back around the corner to the Connacht Tribune office and then took the picture of Peter O’Toole in the middle of the party. He was having a whale of a time.

“He didn’t mind a bit the picture being taken – he was a very down to earth person, who seemed to love the party, the music and the few pints,” says Mr Shields.

He recalls that at the time, Peter O’Toole was involved in the making of The Lion in Winter [in which he played the role of Henry II] but that didn’t stop him from partying on until the early hours of the morning.

According to Mr Ferry – one of the city’s best known barmen for the best part of a half century – the late Peter O’Toole was a regular guest at the Great Southern Hotel, and would often invite staff there to join him for a night out at some local pub.

“He spent a lot of time in Connemara but he loved his trips to the city as well and in those days he really enjoyed his nights out. There were absolutely no airs or graces about him – he just loved going to a local pub and enjoying the craic,” says Mr Ferry.

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel