The Rolling Stones had toured the US twice, and played shows in France, Holland, Switzerland and Holland, before undertaking their first Irish tour in January 1965. The quintet were booked to play two shows in Belfast, two in Dublin, and two in Cork, and their three days in Ireland were memorable for all concerned, even if the long-haired Londoners weren't exactly welcomed with open arms everywhere they went.
"The Irish tour was a tonic," guitarist Brian Jones told NME writer Keith Altham later that month. "The Irish are such fantastic characters. We were travelling on the Cork–Dublin road one morning and I got out of the car to ask a couple of locals with a donkey if they would mind Keith filming them with his ciné. They thought I was going to attack them or something. Next moment they came at me with shovels! I just made it to the car."
