The Fab Four’s connections with the auld sod are thoroughly explored in The Beatles And Ireland (pictured), a new book co-authored by Laois laser technician-cum-journalist Michael Lynch and Damian Smyth, a Yorkshire-born, Dublin-domiciled photographer and events promoter.

Over 218 fascinating pages, they present eyewitness accounts of the two gigs The Beatles played here in 1963 and 1964; delve into George’s Wexford roots and John’s buying of an island off the Mayo coast; and recount the furor which greeted a solo of Paul’s ‘Give Ireland Back To The Irish’. Ringo takes a bit of a back-seat throughout but, well, wasn’t that always the way?