Actor Tom Cruise has met with the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs for the presentation of a certificate of Irishness.

The Certificate is an official recognition by the government of those that are proud of their Irish ancestry and heritage.

The Hollywood superstar met Eamon Gilmore in private meeting at Iveagh House this morning. He was walked through his Irish heritage.

Mr. Cruise is in Dublin for the European premiere of his movie 'Oblivion' tonight. He is understood to have arrived late last night and is staying at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin City centre.

800 year-old ancestry

His Irish ancestry stretches back over 800 years.

Research commissioned by Tourism Ireland for his visit has unveiled that his family history contained knights in the 12th Century, rebels in the 17th Century and Patrick Russell-Cruise.

The knights in Tom's family were among the first wave of Anglo-Normans to invade Ireland between 1169 and 1176.

In 1176 Augustino de Cruce, one of Strongbow's knights, acted as a legal witness to a grant by Strongbow of lands in Dublin. The Cruise family established themselves in Ireland, and held lands in Dublin and Meath including Naul in north county Dublin and the civil parish of Cruicetown in County Meath to which the family gave their name.

While Patrick Russell-Cruise reinstated tenants on his lands in the 19th Century following their eviction against his wishes by an unscrupulous land-agent.

Tom Cruise is a 5th-generation direct descendant of Patrick Russell-Cruise.