Stan and Ollie

On September 9, 1953, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, neither in good health, arrived by boat in the small harbour at Cobh, Ireland, after crossing the Atlantic on the first stage of what was to be their last ever tour together. Stan recounted their reception in his autobiography:

The love and affection we found that day at Cobh was simply unbelievable. There were hundreds of boats blowing whistles and mobs and mobs of people screaming on the docks. We just couldn't understand what it was all about. And then something happened that I can never forget. All the church bells in Cobh started to ring out our theme song and Babe [Oliver Hardy] looked at me and we cried. I'll never forget that day. Never.

I have a lump in my throat as I type this. 'All the church bells in Cobh'. They'd come by boat because they couldn't afford to fly. 

Here's a report from the following day's local newspaper: 

http://www.laurelandhardy.ie/docs/cobhnewsletter.pdf