A BRIGHT, peat fire burned brightly in the hearth of the little thatched cottage. Around it about a dozen 60-year-old men, all similarly dressed in caps and long overcoats, stood chatting and sipping Guinness     In the street outside, half a dozen cows shambled aimlessly along the pavement while a flock of sheep was being driven into the main square.     The thatched cottage was in fact - apart from the church - the village's main social centre.     It was a pub but also had everything from a spade to an aeroplane ticket to Hawaii. It was the general store, the travel agent, the green grocer and the plumber.     Standing chatting with the old men was a younger man with longish hair. They talked about the weather, dogs, the condition of the crops and horse racing - everything in fact except pop music.     The young man was Herman, and we were in the centre of an Irish village in the county of Roscommon trying to fnd the birthplace of Tommy Noone, grandfather of Peter Blair Noone.     Tommy Noone was born in the village of Four Mile House, but moved to England more than 50 years ago and settled in Manchester where he still lives.     He has never been back and neither has his son Denis. But Peter had wanted to see his grandparent's birthplace for a long time and although he has been in Ireland in the past he has never had the time to visit Four Mile House and so he decided to go at Easter.     "Ireland and the Irish have always interested me," Peter told me on the plane from London to Dublin. "They're really genuine and believe in saying what they think."     This was proved a few days later when a bearded Ulsterman made some disparaging remarks about Britain. But as he was politely told by several Dubliners, why should so many Irish settle there?     "There are still a few fanatics who live in the past," explained one of the locals.     From Dublin we travelled on to Galway on the West Coast to go horse-riding in the best area for that sport. And Galway must be one of Ireland's most pop conscious counties. Although Peter had been recocognised in Dublin he was almost mobbed in Galway.

Wherever he went there was always a crowd waiting to see him. Apparently his film "Hold On" had been playing at the local cinema and the whole population had obviously been to see it.     As one youngster frankly explained: "Well, you see there are no dances on during the seven weeks of Lent and there's nothing else to do."     One fan even went to see it a second time but as he candidly admitted: "That was a mistake."     Later that evening Peter pulled me to one side and nodded in the direction of two old ladies sitting, sipping tea in the hotel lounge.     "You'll never guess what they just said as I walked past them," he said laughingly.     "One of them asked the other who I was and the other said "That's Herman, he's a famous English actor."     The following morning, Good Friday, Peter received a request from a beat group, the Philosophers, asking if he would like to go and see them for ten minutes.     As he was feeling particularly benevolent and as everything including Telefis Eirann - Irish Television - was closed down he decided to go.     But being Good Friday and as the hotel where the group rehearsed was near the church, the Philosophers were not allowed to play.     They had been unable to work in Galway during Lent and were looking forward to starting again on Easter Monday. They asked Peter about recording techniques, equipment and so on.     As we left, one of them said to me: "We were amazed that he should come to see us. And he's really friendly, isn't he?"     The next day we travelled from Galway to Roscommon, the nearest town to Four Mile House. On the way to the home village of the Noones, the taxi driver explained how the place got its name.     "It's been called Four Mile House, simply because it's four miles from Roscommon," he said. "In 1916 the Irish ambushed an English patrol there." He could give us no further details.     The village had evidently remained unchanged since Tommy Noone left there to settle in Manchester. A little country church and about six house dotted around the fields and that was all.     "I'm glad I came here," said Peter as we left the village. "My grandfather told me so much about the place. Now I've seen it for myself."