Eating chocolate before breakfast, Driving Home for Christmas on the radio, It’s a Wonderful Life or Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the original, of course) on the TV and countless ham sandwiches and Tayto crisps – we all have our favourite thing around Christmas.
We caught up with some Irish personalities and some of the team from the Irish Farmers Journal and Irish Country Living to find out what they love most about the season.
Noel Cunningham: Author and TV personality
Noel Cunningham. \ Sheila Russell
“My favourite Christmas activity is to gather friends and family on St Stephen’s Day, wrap up and go for a winter walk. I am spoiled in my beautiful Donegal to have so many extraordinary walks. I try to combine not only a beach but also a woodland, where there is holly with berries and the sound of birds.
“This walk is just a magical way of leaving some of the craziness of Christmas behind, reviewing what happened the day before and in the run-up. We might sort out a few family rows that happened, and contemplate the imminent arrival of spring, new hope and those gorgeous winter colours that are in abundance at this time of year.
“Being honest, maybe we all need to get out for that walk. After Christmas, the strain on people and the extraordinary hard work, it sometimes requires a period of mindfulness and quiet to restore balance.
“On many occasions, I have supplemented that wonderful walk with a drive with some of my less capable elderly relatives. It’s important to have something that includes them too.”
Brenda Donohue: Broadcaster and presenter
Brenda Donohue. \ Claire Nash
“For me, I work right up to Christmas and then I take a little bit of downtime afterwards. Family is first and whatever is going on will have my family circle there. But in terms of what I love doing over Christmas, one tradition I inflict on everybody is the panto. I always go to a panto in Dublin over the holidays. Always! I enjoy them and I used to be in pantos from the age of four. I was in the local panto in Newbridge, and then with Alan Hughes for two or three years in his productions.
“We used go to pantos when I was young and they would bring up kids on stage and I’d be hyperventilating to try and get up. I love that tradition of sitting there and booing and laughing. You know, the love story, and the mad costumes, and the innuendo, and you all walk out together and you’re laughing or on a high. Even though my kids are older, I like bringing them and it takes me back. And we might go out for tea in town after.”
Séaghan Ó Súilleabháin: Farmer and TikToker
Séaghan Ó Súilleabháin. \ MacMonagle Photography Killarney
“The wintertime doesn’t come without hardship. This time of year, ‘dúluachair’, as it’s called in Irish – refers to the dark colour that comes at the base of rushes but it can be beautiful too. I love splitting timber for the fire and the smell of turf burning. Snow can be a pain for farmers, but it does make for a nice view.
“The Christmas dinner is definitely a highlight for me. Turkey, ham, stuffing, spuds, Brussel sprouts, carrots, cauliflower with a bit of cheese and black pepper – I love it. I’m hungry now thinking about it. We always have a big bowl of homemade trifle and cream for pudding. But above all, at this time of year, it’s a blessing to meet family, friends and neighbours you mightn’t have seen in some time.
“You could say there’s a warmth to the coldest time of year.”
Maria Walsh: MEP
Maria Walsh MEP. \ Naomi Gaffey
“Before Christmas, particularly during Christmas week, I enjoy pottering around local shops in Galway city and meeting different local vendors in the Christmas market. I love picking up a hot apple cider and just walking around and taking in the Christmas vibe. That’s a gift to myself that I do every year – just to take it all in.
“On Christmas Day, we have a shared Christmas with my aunty and her family and my uncle and his family. We’ve been doing this every year from 1994 since we moved back from Boston to Ireland. The table sizes have changed with people moving away, relations getting married or having children now.
“It’s a case of pyjamas as soon as dinner is over and watching whatever movies are on. Then we rustle ourselves up around 7pm to go for a walk. It’s about soaking in as much of the good air as we can before we sit back on the couch and get ready for round two of turkey.”
Jack Kennedy: Editor, Irish Farmers Journal
Jack Kennedy.
“The best thing about Christmas from my perspective is just the seasonal slowdown that happens for every sector for a few days before Christmas, to just after. There is almost an unwritten rule that no meetings or industry events are scheduled because almost everybody is on holidays at the same time.
“Farmers milking cows, lambing ewes, or feeding cattle still have to get some work done. However, even on busy farms there is almost a ‘work to rule’ – the rule being get what has to be done completed so animals are safe, healthy and comfortable and then enjoy the rest of the time with family and friends.
“From the perspective of the Irish Farmers Journal we still have to keep abreast with news and happenings from around the country during the holiday period.
“As we have a print issue every week of the year, and online stories every day, it necessitates staffing from our editorial and production departments right through the Christmas period to keep farmers, rural householders and the industry informed and entertained. For this we are very thankful and it means our audience always have something new to engage with even during the seasonally quiet Christmas period.
Sarah McIntosh: Careers and education journalist, Irish Country Living
Sarah McIntosh. \ Philip Doyle
“Christmas for me is all about family. At 26 years of age, I have yet to spend a Christmas in my home in Dublin. Once the holidays begin, we pack up the car and hit the road for Ballycullane, Co Wexford, my second home where my grandparents Albert and Rosaline Symes live.
“Christmas will be different this year, as my granny is now in a nursing home, but we will be taking her out for the day and having a family meal or should I say ‘feast’ at home.
“We don’t spare on the Christmas trimmings for dinner and that has always been the case, with the fine china and cutlery brought out for their one outing of the year.
“The good sitting room is used and every single side dish you can think of is prepared, including homemade bread pudding and brandy butter. It wouldn’t be Christmas for me without a trip to Mass in the morning followed by our biggest tradition, having the extended family over for a glass of sherry. I still have not acquired a taste for it, but it’s poured into the crystalware and I drink it anyway.”
Philip Doyle: Picture editor, Irish Farmers Journal
Philip Doyle.
“Christmas for me is a magical time. I love the run up with my two girls, as they wait for Santa and the daily excitement as they run down to see what the naughty elf on the shelf has been up to while they are asleep. When my first daughter was born, I took a picture with her on the stairs in my house as we waited to go into the sitting room to see what Santa had brought. Two years later, I had two daughters on my knees for the picture.
“Ten years on, I have a lovely record of how they have grown each year and it has become a tradition that all three of us look forward to.
“We joke how funny the pictures will look when they are fully grown adults and maybe have children of their own. Our lives are much busier now and time seems to fly. Christmas for me is an opportunity to stop and take quality time with those that mean the most to me.”
Eating chocolate before breakfast, Driving Home for Christmas on the radio, It’s a Wonderful Life or Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the original, of course) on the TV and countless ham sandwiches and Tayto crisps – we all have our favourite thing around Christmas.
We caught up with some Irish personalities and some of the team from the Irish Farmers Journal and Irish Country Living to find out what they love most about the season.
Noel Cunningham: Author and TV personality
Noel Cunningham. \ Sheila Russell
“My favourite Christmas activity is to gather friends and family on St Stephen’s Day, wrap up and go for a winter walk. I am spoiled in my beautiful Donegal to have so many extraordinary walks. I try to combine not only a beach but also a woodland, where there is holly with berries and the sound of birds.
“This walk is just a magical way of leaving some of the craziness of Christmas behind, reviewing what happened the day before and in the run-up. We might sort out a few family rows that happened, and contemplate the imminent arrival of spring, new hope and those gorgeous winter colours that are in abundance at this time of year.
“Being honest, maybe we all need to get out for that walk. After Christmas, the strain on people and the extraordinary hard work, it sometimes requires a period of mindfulness and quiet to restore balance.
“On many occasions, I have supplemented that wonderful walk with a drive with some of my less capable elderly relatives. It’s important to have something that includes them too.”
Brenda Donohue: Broadcaster and presenter
Brenda Donohue. \ Claire Nash
“For me, I work right up to Christmas and then I take a little bit of downtime afterwards. Family is first and whatever is going on will have my family circle there. But in terms of what I love doing over Christmas, one tradition I inflict on everybody is the panto. I always go to a panto in Dublin over the holidays. Always! I enjoy them and I used to be in pantos from the age of four. I was in the local panto in Newbridge, and then with Alan Hughes for two or three years in his productions.
“We used go to pantos when I was young and they would bring up kids on stage and I’d be hyperventilating to try and get up. I love that tradition of sitting there and booing and laughing. You know, the love story, and the mad costumes, and the innuendo, and you all walk out together and you’re laughing or on a high. Even though my kids are older, I like bringing them and it takes me back. And we might go out for tea in town after.”
Séaghan Ó Súilleabháin: Farmer and TikToker
Séaghan Ó Súilleabháin. \ MacMonagle Photography Killarney
“The wintertime doesn’t come without hardship. This time of year, ‘dúluachair’, as it’s called in Irish – refers to the dark colour that comes at the base of rushes but it can be beautiful too. I love splitting timber for the fire and the smell of turf burning. Snow can be a pain for farmers, but it does make for a nice view.
“The Christmas dinner is definitely a highlight for me. Turkey, ham, stuffing, spuds, Brussel sprouts, carrots, cauliflower with a bit of cheese and black pepper – I love it. I’m hungry now thinking about it. We always have a big bowl of homemade trifle and cream for pudding. But above all, at this time of year, it’s a blessing to meet family, friends and neighbours you mightn’t have seen in some time.
“You could say there’s a warmth to the coldest time of year.”
Maria Walsh: MEP
Maria Walsh MEP. \ Naomi Gaffey
“Before Christmas, particularly during Christmas week, I enjoy pottering around local shops in Galway city and meeting different local vendors in the Christmas market. I love picking up a hot apple cider and just walking around and taking in the Christmas vibe. That’s a gift to myself that I do every year – just to take it all in.
“On Christmas Day, we have a shared Christmas with my aunty and her family and my uncle and his family. We’ve been doing this every year from 1994 since we moved back from Boston to Ireland. The table sizes have changed with people moving away, relations getting married or having children now.
“It’s a case of pyjamas as soon as dinner is over and watching whatever movies are on. Then we rustle ourselves up around 7pm to go for a walk. It’s about soaking in as much of the good air as we can before we sit back on the couch and get ready for round two of turkey.”
Jack Kennedy: Editor, Irish Farmers Journal
Jack Kennedy.
“The best thing about Christmas from my perspective is just the seasonal slowdown that happens for every sector for a few days before Christmas, to just after. There is almost an unwritten rule that no meetings or industry events are scheduled because almost everybody is on holidays at the same time.
“Farmers milking cows, lambing ewes, or feeding cattle still have to get some work done. However, even on busy farms there is almost a ‘work to rule’ – the rule being get what has to be done completed so animals are safe, healthy and comfortable and then enjoy the rest of the time with family and friends.
“From the perspective of the Irish Farmers Journal we still have to keep abreast with news and happenings from around the country during the holiday period.
“As we have a print issue every week of the year, and online stories every day, it necessitates staffing from our editorial and production departments right through the Christmas period to keep farmers, rural householders and the industry informed and entertained. For this we are very thankful and it means our audience always have something new to engage with even during the seasonally quiet Christmas period.
Sarah McIntosh: Careers and education journalist, Irish Country Living
Sarah McIntosh. \ Philip Doyle
“Christmas for me is all about family. At 26 years of age, I have yet to spend a Christmas in my home in Dublin. Once the holidays begin, we pack up the car and hit the road for Ballycullane, Co Wexford, my second home where my grandparents Albert and Rosaline Symes live.
“Christmas will be different this year, as my granny is now in a nursing home, but we will be taking her out for the day and having a family meal or should I say ‘feast’ at home.
“We don’t spare on the Christmas trimmings for dinner and that has always been the case, with the fine china and cutlery brought out for their one outing of the year.
“The good sitting room is used and every single side dish you can think of is prepared, including homemade bread pudding and brandy butter. It wouldn’t be Christmas for me without a trip to Mass in the morning followed by our biggest tradition, having the extended family over for a glass of sherry. I still have not acquired a taste for it, but it’s poured into the crystalware and I drink it anyway.”
Philip Doyle: Picture editor, Irish Farmers Journal
Philip Doyle.
“Christmas for me is a magical time. I love the run up with my two girls, as they wait for Santa and the daily excitement as they run down to see what the naughty elf on the shelf has been up to while they are asleep. When my first daughter was born, I took a picture with her on the stairs in my house as we waited to go into the sitting room to see what Santa had brought. Two years later, I had two daughters on my knees for the picture.
“Ten years on, I have a lovely record of how they have grown each year and it has become a tradition that all three of us look forward to.
“We joke how funny the pictures will look when they are fully grown adults and maybe have children of their own. Our lives are much busier now and time seems to fly. Christmas for me is an opportunity to stop and take quality time with those that mean the most to me.”
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