THE celebrated actor and director Alan Rickman may have created some sort of record by marrying his long-term partner Rima Horton after a relationship lasting almost exactly half a century.
It emerged yesterday that the couple, who first met when Mr Rickman was 19 and Ms Horton was a year younger, had just staged a low-key wedding ceremony in New York.
Mr Rickman (69) is from London rather than Ireland, although he is very well known here because of his acclaimed role as Éamon de Valera in the 1998 film Michael Collins.
However, many observers have concluded that, if Mr Rickman believes in exceptionally long courtships, he must surely have some Irish blood.