Duffy goes black to the old country

Dallas star on Irish pub tour for documentary on ancestry

- BY LYNNE KELLEHER

ONE of Patrick Duffy's most surreal encounters during his Irish pub tour last summer came courtesy of stetson-wearing country singer TR Dallas.

The 76-year-old Dallas legend and his partner, Happy Days actress Linda Purl, spent weeks crisscrossing Ireland to get a gauge on the country's famous pub culture for a new documentary titled Duffy's Pub.

Growing up in a Montana bar run by his second-generation Irish immigrant parents, there were many resonance points for the TV legend as he tested out pints of Guinness in counties in all four provinces.

As he walked through the doors of the red-bricked Don's pub in Moate, Co Westmeath, he was met by the sight of TR Dallas, emerging from behind the bar looking a dead ringer for Larry Hagman.

"All I'm missing is the horse", smiles the Midlands country star.