Harris attracted younger fans for his role in Harry Potter

Crowe will be taking part in the unveiling of a statue in Kilkee, West Clare, commemorating the Irish legend.

It was a friendship struck up on the set of the film, Gladiator in 1999. Harris was fond of Crowe, maybe because he reminded him of his younger self.

Both shared a passion for acting and for life and a rebellious streak.

Limerick-born Harris was everything a bad-boy Hollywood star should be: a handsome, boozing, brawling, womanising, jet-setter whose moody magnificence brought glamour to even his weakest movies.

But, beyond his headline-grabbing lifestyle, he was an actor of real emotional depth, able to thrill theatre or cinema audiences alike.

Russell Crowe is travelling to Ireland

Harris, who starred in The Field and in more recent years as the wily head of Hogwarts School in Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone, died in October 2002 at the age of 72.

He had just finished work on the second Harry Potter movie, Chamber of Secrets, when he became ill.

Manuel di Lucia, the project director behind the Richard Harris Memorial Committee said when he first approached Crowe's agent, he was told that he was busy filming in America.

But, through a diving friend who worked on the set of another Crowe film, he made another approach.

The Oscar winning actor said he would take a break from filming to come to Clare for the ceremony on Saturday.

He intends to sing a song he wrote, along with Alan Doyle, in memory of Harris.

"It's is a song called 'Mr Harris' about the ghost of Richard Harris playing as the 16th man on the rugby field," Mr di Lucia said.

Mr di Lucia, a cousin of Hollywood actor Danny DeVito, said Limerick-born Harris's ties to the area began when he spent holidays there with his brothers during his youth.

Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore

"Every time he came to Kilkee he brought an air of joviality to the town," he said.

"He was very flamboyant, very well liked by everybody."

The statue, designed by Seamus Connelly, shows Harris playing racquet ball. He won a racquet-ball competition four times in a row in the west Clare resort where he spent his summer holidays as a young man.

Harris's three sons are travelling from Los Angeles and will unveil the statue. His three surviving brothers also plan to attend.

Crowe will be arriving in Ireland on Friday with an entourage of about 15 people, including his wife and two children.