By Kieran O’Mahony & MARTIN STEINMETZ

Skibbereen was abuzz after Bob Geldof was spotted strolling through the town on Wednesday. The Boomtown Rats frontman and his wife Jean Marine visited several shops on Bridge Street and North Street, including Embellish Home Interiors. Live Aid legend Bob (74) wore a black coat and skinny jeans with a brown corduroy cap pulled low over his face.

He told The Southern Star: ‘I’m just in town with the missus browsing and crusing around, having a lovely time. We’re playing in Kilkenny over the weekend. That’s why I’m here.’

The Boomtown Rats will play a gig at The Hub, Cillin Hill, Kilkenny, on Saturday. Earlier in the week he was spotted enjoying the sights of Clonakilty and it is understood he and his partner Jeanne Marine stayed at Fernhill House Hotel.

They were also seen at O’Donovan’s Hotel which posted on its Facebook page that the couple were ‘casually dining on our homemade vegetable soup and tasty toastie!’ and sat by the fire in the bar.

Bob is no stranger to visiting West Cork having attended the West Cork History Festival in Skibbereen in 2022. In 2018 he visited a Famine exhibition in the Uillinn Arts Centre. His mother, Evelyn Weller, was  from Princes Street, and Bob spent many of his childhood summers holidaying along the Cork coast.