COMEDIAN Paddy Kielty has revealed that his uncle - a former Vietnam veteran - was a US spy in Germany at the height of the Cold War.
The 44-year-old blurted out the startling piece of family history during his appearance on Channel 4's `Sunday Brunch' programme.
The Co Down native, who is expecting his first child with LA-based presenter Cat Deeley, told how his paternal uncle John James Kielty used to tail people while "undercover".
"My uncle was a spy in Germany in the 1970s," he told DJ Tim Lovejoy and chef Simon Rimmer.
"My dad's brother was in the military for the American government and he used to be based in Munich.
"I remember going to his house in Washington DC and he had all the Steins [beer glasses] from all the years at Oktoberfest.
"He was undercover, he was basically saying that all the information we give now on our mobile phones - they were spending months following people round Germany to get."
According to his blog `A Boy from Dundrum', John James Kielty is a former Green Beret, distinguished with medals and decorations for his time in combat, including the Purple Heart for wounds received on mission in Vietnam.
He has also written about how his father - Kielty's grandfather - was also in military intelligence.
"My dad was an infantry soldier in World War II who participated in the Italian campaign and later, as a `second waver' at Omaha Beach in Normandy".
"Six weeks later he was wounded in France and evacuated back to England and later to Ireland where he met my mother and…well you fill in the rest.
"Dad didn't get much a respite from the horrors of war since he was still on active duty in 1950 when he was sent to Korea for the next three years. He arrived as a Master Sergeant and left with a battlefield commission and promotion to Captain.
"Dad made the leap to Army Intelligence soon after Korea where he continued to confront the enemies of this nation as a silent warrior.
"My time in hell began in December 1966 during my first tour of Southeast Asia."
Mr Kielty's blog-bio says he moved to his "current small hobby farm" upon his retirement from US government service in 2001 and "now lives a quiet existence with his wife Sue, and three cats, Bear, Bart and Jake Junior".
He has written several fantasy fiction books combining the modern military experience with Celtic/Druid tales.
