It’s just a pity they weren’t on the box to entertain him when he spent all that time stuck in JFK during The Terminal.
The GAA has had its fair share of celebrity fans over the years but it’s not often you hear of a Hollywood A-lister showing a keen interest in the fortunes of an inter-county minor hurling team, as was the case with none other than Tom Hanks at the weekend.
According to the Galway Independent, the Forrest Gump and Toy Story star was passing through Shannon on his way back to the US from Greece and while he was in the airport he pitched up at the Sheridan Bar to watch what turned out to be a controversial victory for the Galway minors over their Limerick counterparts after extra-time.
So caught up was Hanks in the action, in fact, that he delayed his departure from Shannon in order to catch the end of the game, although there are no reports about his views on the Hawkeye fiasco, a controversy which is still ongoing three days after the event.
Commenting on Hanks’ visit, Shannon Airport Duty Manager Carmel Donnellan said: “They were only here for a brief stop but they were enjoying watching the minor match on TV so much that they delayed their departure to take in the end of the game.
“Tom and his sons were in the bar having a drink and he was explaining hurling to them and said ‘this is the game I have been telling you about’.
“His sons seemed to be enjoying the game also and then his daughter came over before they were joined by his wife.
“He must have a grá for Galway as well as he wanted them to win the minor. There was plenty of Limerick staff around but we weren’t going to challenge him on that.”
“He is such a nice man and happily posed for photos with staff and passengers,” Donnellan added.
“He could have gone to the VIP room but he just stayed there in the Sheridan bar with his family, watching the match the same as everyone else.”
Unconfirmed reports suggested that, so affected was Hanks by what he saw that he plans to return to Galway to film Joe Canning versus the Volcano, a follow up to the 1990 film of (kind of) the same name, so watch this space.
