HARRY Potter star Daniel Radcliffe explores his Co Down connections in tonight's episode of BBC series Who Do You Think You Are?
The actor – who played the lead role in the films based on JK Rowling's books – visits Banbridge where his father grew up, and Dromore to meet his aunt Linda who still lives in the town.
During the programme, he discovers that four of his great-great-uncles fought in World War One.
And the 29-year-old reveals that one of them, Ernest McDowell, was an inspiration for his role in the 2007 film My Boy Jack.
During the meeting with his aunt, Radcliffe is shown family pictures of Ernest, his three other great-great-uncles and his great-grandmother Flo.
The actor had not been aware he had met her when he was a baby.
He is also given a bundle of letters written by and to Ernest. In them, Ernest goes to great lengths to reassure his mother that he is safe during the war, something Radcliffe describes as "extraordinary".
Other letters reveal Ernest's injuries, including being shot and contracting frostbite, before the star discovers that his great-great-uncle did not survive.
The manner of his death was revealed in a letter sent to Ernest's mother by a soldier who was with him at the front, which describes how "your boy and two more chaps from Belfast" were killed when a shell landed in a dug-out.
Radcliffe acknowledged that "a lot of very sad things have happened to various parts of my family", adding "but I can't be sad about it because everyone was loved".
He also travels to north London to explore his ancestry on his maternal side.
He uncovers the tragic story of his Jewish great-grandfather Samuel Gershon who had been a successful jeweller in London's Hatton Garden.
Following a robbery at his shop, and rumours that it had been staged as an insurance fraud, Samuel feared he would be left bankrupt.
Mr Radcliffe breaks down in tears when he reads a suicide note written by Samuel to his wife before he took his own life, revealing that the words remind him of his own mental health struggles.
To compound the tragedy, the insurance company eventually settled the claim.
The programme will be screened tonight on BBC One at 9pm.
