Sligo is to honour Spike Milligan, whose family once lived in the town, with a special memorial. The town council has agreed to erect a plaque on the house in Holborn Street where the comedian's father, Leo, was born.
A date for the ceremony has not yet been fixed, but the Mayor of Sligo, Mr Declan Bree, said yesterday it was likely to be in January.
Interest in the family's links to the area were revived when Spike died in Sussex aged 83 in February 2002, and when his actress daughter Jane visited Sligo two months ago while making a documentary on her father's life. She and the mayor discussed her grandfather's childhood there, and her father's love for the town.
Spike was born in India when Leo was serving there with the British army. Leo was born and grew up in Holborn Street. And in Spike's first book, Puckoon, references to Sligo are explicit and implicit.
When Milligan wrote Puckoon in 1963 he had never even been to Ireland, but he often spoke of his pride in his roots.
"It's well-known that Spike was very proud of his association with Sligo. It's unfortunate that the Sligo connection with Spike Milligan hasn't been adequately or properly acknowledged," said Mr Bree.