George Clooney said he had to ‘take my liver out and wash it’ after a trip to Ireland

High praise indeed.

Hearing Americans wax lyrical about their time visiting Ireland never gets old – we love to hear stories of our fanny pack-clad brethren tracking down their ancestry, paying 30 quid to hold a baby lamb and belting out their best renditions of The Irish Rover out the back of a roadside pub. However, it’s safe to say no American has nailed the experience of visiting Ireland quite like George Clooney, who revealed he “had to take my liver out and wash it” after spending a week here.

In an interview with Miriam O’Callaghan on RTÉ Radio 1 this past weekend, Clooney spoke proudly of his Irish roots and described his last trip here.

“Irish connection? Clooney? Come on, come on!” the Hollywood A-lister said. “I visited Ireland and I had a wonderful time and I saw a bunch of Clooneys, my relatives. I didn’t know but the moment I got there, I started to see all these people who look like my family. We all left during the potato famine, our family did.”

George’s great, great grandfather reportedly left Kilkenny for America in the 1840s, and when asked if he planned on coming back to find out more about his Irish ancestry, the actor said, “Of course! I had to leave because I had to take my liver out and wash it after my week in Ireland. It almost killed me but we had a great time. I love it there”.

Clooney added that he and his wife Amal had brought their children to Ireland when they were two, but revealed he’d “like to take them back so they can understand what all my family members are saying.”

Header image via Getty

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