A club anthem that samples an Irish jig has become a surprise summertime hit across Europe, making Patrick Bergin an unlikely music video star.

Paddy’s Revenge, a jig mixed with the thud of dance beats, has gained a massive cult following thanks to its success in nightclubs from the UK to Ibiza.

Hailed as Riverdance for the rave generation, the song has also become an internet phenomenon thanks to its bizarre video, which features an energetic fiddle-playing Bergin dressed as a leprechaun.

Dance star: Patrick Bergin as a leprechaun

Paddy’s Revenge, which is tipped to top the UK charts when it is released on September 15, was created by Brighton DJ Steve Mac.

The catchy song is a bizarre hybrid of the traditional tune Music For A Found Harmonium, a jig written by an Englishman, Simon Jeffes, 20 years ago, and modern dance rhythms. 

DJ Mac’s song has garnered further popularity thanks to its absurd video in which Bergin, best known for his role alongside Julia Roberts in Sleeping With The Enemy, dances around a crock of gold with a bevy of burlesque beauties.

The video has already been viewed nearly 150,000 times on YouTube and has spawned hundreds of replica films where fans try to emulate Bergin’s moves.

Countless videos have been posted using Paddy’s Revenge as the backing track, with everyone from teenage boys and elderly men to heavily pregnant women partaking in what has become known as the ‘rave jig’.

Massive hit: The song has become popular in far out places such as Ibiza

Bergin, who played Robin Hood to Uma Thurman’s Maid Marian in a 1991 film, explained yesterday how he became involved in the project, which has invented a whole new form of céilidh dancing.

He said he became friendly with a number of DJs in Brighton after he bought a studio in the area.

Bergin told RTÉ’s Tubridy Show yesterday: ‘There’s a bunch of DJs in and around the Brighton area. They quite often come and use the studio to mix their material.

Film peak: Patrick Bergin hit the Hollywood heights playing Julia Roberts's evil lover in Sleeping With The Enemy

‘When they were doing this piece they came to me and said would I be in the video for them. And, at a loose moment, I said, “Yeah”.’ 

The Dubliner jokingly described the song’s eccentric video as every man’s fantasy.

He said: ‘It’s a cross between Gangs Of New York and an overgrown, manic, fiddle-playing leprechaun with pots of gold and scantily clad girls – every man’s dream.’

Click below to see official video