‘Talking is an art form, and to me it’s the most vibrant, affecting art form we have.’

Tommy Tiernan went on a pilgrimage recently. Not to the Holy Land, but to somewhere a little easier to get to on the bus: the Veritas bookstore in Dawson Street, which sells religious offerings.

Tiernan was buying CDs and leafing through books by Fr Peter McVerry and Sr Stanislaus Kennedy when a customer recognised him.

Did he get some flak? I wonder, thinking of Tiernan’s comedy routines of old: the Navan-born comedian first ...