‘I am a nerd superstar’ Ed Sheeran admits before handing over his guitar to Ryan Tubridy on Late Late Show

“Oh my God, are you serious?” the presenter said when Sheeran signed the acoustic guitar and gave it to him as gift at the end of an exclusive interview ‘in the round’ on the RTÉ chat show.

Sheeran said the gift was his way of thanking Ryan for his kindness throughout his musical career that began when he was just 12 or 13 years old busking on the streets of Galway and later on Grafton Street in Dublin.

“Before we say goodbye, because I know you’ve been very good to me over the years, I want to give you my guitar,” he said.

Ryan, clearly taken aback, said: “Thank you. I have a guitar at home. This is one of my secrets I’ve never revealed. I have about four chords, that’s all I need, but NOW, I have no excuse (not to play),” he said, adding “I’d like to apologise to my neighbours in advance.”

"I can’t say thank you enough, I’m very moved by that,” he said, adding “My nerves are gone to be honest with you.”

Meanwhile, Sheeran, who won a copyright infringement case in New York on Thursday in which a Manhattan jury found he did not wilfully copy the late Marvin Gaye’s classic hit ‘Let’s Get it On’ in his Grammy-winning hit "Thinking Out Loud", told reporters after the hearing that he was forced to miss his grandmother’s funeral in Ireland because of the case.

His grandmother was the inspiration behind his hit song ‘Nancy Mulligan.’ His grandmother, Anne Mary Sheeran, née Mulligan, died last month at the age of 98 at a nursing home in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford. Her funeral was held on Wednesday.

But after Ryan presented the singer with Wexford GAA jerseys for the singer, his wife and children with Sheeran inscribed on the back as a parting gift, he said he was very proud of his Wexford roots and looks forward to having his family visit the county.

“I’m really excited for them to grow up and know their Irish roots, it’s going to be great taking them over here,” he said.

He also paid tribute to Irish singer songwriter Damien Rice whom he said was instrumental in inspiring his musical career and tracked him down to thank him.

“I know I’m here because of Damien Rice,” he said.

In a wide-ranging interview in which fans and fellow musicians, including Irish band Kodaline’s Jason Boland, chatted with him as they sat nearby the circular stage, he joked that “I’ve never been cool, that’s what I think is cool. I am a nerd,” he said.

He also spoke of his love of the Irish coastline which was the inspiration behind one of the songs on his new album.

“The British coastline is pretty much the same as the Irish coastline in terms of - everyone in Ireland goes to the seaside and loves it and everyone in England goes to the seaside and loves it but when people from overseas who live in hot countries come, they go “oh my God how could you enjoy this? This is cold!,” he said.

"But there’s something really beautiful in the ruggedness and bleakness and getting battered by the wind and the waves and I don’t know, it really makes you feel alive. The whole album was made by the coastline. I know you holiday by the Irish coast and it is just a beautiful, beautiful landscape and I feel like everyone around the world doesn’t quite understand what we see,” he told Ryan.

He also performed his hits ‘Perfect’ and ‘Eyes Closed’ as well as another track from his new album 'Subtract' during the pre-recorded interview at Montrose as one of the final interviews by Ryan who will be stepping down from his role as Late Late Show host on May 26.