Hollywood actor John Cusack's link to Nobber revealed

First Tom Cruise and now John Cusack - two Hollywood superstars whose Irish ancestry can be traced all the way to the north Meath village of Nobber!

In 2013, Tom Cruise visited Ireland promoting his movie ‘Oblivion’. Genealogical research at the time revealed that he is a fifth generation descendant of a Cruise family from Cruicetown in Meath and of course the most prominent Cruicetown in Meath is in the Nobber area.
The research commissioned by Tourism Ireland for Cruise’s visit, unveiled the amazing history of a family that contained knights in the 12th century, rebels in the 17th century and a hero, Patrick Russell-Cruise, who reinstated tenants on his lands in the 19th century following their eviction against his wishes by an unscrupulous land-agent.
Now another Hollywood star John Cusack can trace his Irish roots all the way back to the north Meath village. His mother Nancy Carolan’s family was traced back to Nobber while his father’s ancestors were from Ballygar in Co Galway.
RTE researchers Denise Lavelle and Naoimh Reilly from Cork were so determined to get to meet their idol John Cusack who was attending the Belfast Film Festival at the weekend, that they commissioned a genealogy report in the hopes of winning him over.
The researchers were told that Cusack was not doing interviews but after telling the incredible story of their journey which included problems with equipment, and having their car broken into while they waited for the equipment to be fixed, Denise and Naoimh managed to bag an exclusive interview with Cusack the next day.
During the interview, they got to the topic of Cusack’s family history. “He was told his whole life by his mother that her family was from Galway and his father’s family was from Meath. Our report showed it was the other way round”.
“I have always been told the reverse, the Cusacks were from Meath and the Carolans were from Galway,” Cusack replied.
The report revealed that all 16 of his great great-grandparents were of Irish lineage. “You can’t get more Irish,” Denise told him.

News that the ‘High Fidelity’ actor’s mother Nancy Carolan’s family came from Nobber may not come as a huge surprise, as the Carolan name is a very common one in the Nobber area. Indeed the famous blind harpist and composer Turlough O’Carolan was born in Nobber in 1670.