Christmas in Brazil is a very important date for the Brazilian family. It is a date where we gather to celebrate the birth of Jesus and enjoy this family moment. Unlike other countries, at Christmas Brazil is in summer. Brazilian culture celebrates Christmas with a lunch to bring families together with their typical foods, another action in Brazil during Christmas some people get together and go out to deliver gifts to brighten up Children's Day. At Christmas at night, women gather in the kitchen to prepare Christmas dinner, and men go to the barbecue to prepare the Brazilian barbecue, while children have fun in the living room to play together.

Some typical foods of Brazil are salpicão, rice with raisins, Christmas turkey (also common in other countries) and also several sobremessas that are part of our supper, such as lemon pie.

BY NOEMI,NICOLLY AND FABIANY

Crashing waves on rocking shores.

Stars shining in the sky

Splashing sound of raindrops

Crickets chirp from above

Crunchy leaves fallen from trees

Buzzing bees all around

Birds eyeing you from the blue sky.

By Laura Narolska, 1st year

Where the day's just begun, whispers of history in every stone

In County Galway where the stories are known.

We are top of the table thanks to Arne Slot, City coming up,

Fans say we will lose,

We say “we will not”.

Salah is on fire,

Lucho is like a goal machine,

This is a different club than we had back in quarantine

Our defence is class,

Robbo at the ready,

Van Dijk like a stone,

Bradley and Trent both fighting for right back to be their own,

Kelleher is a cat in goal,

Forget that Allison Becker,

Go on ya little Irishman,

We love you ya little....heckler!

Liverpool will do it,

I think we'll win the treble

But until then us fans will not settle,

Come on now Liverpool,

You know our dreams are set,

When Macca gets the ball,

We know he'll guide it to the net

I was sad to see Jurgen go

But Arne’s team seem to be in full flow,

If Salah leaves this year I will be angry of course

But then we have to thank him for being our main goal source!

I love Man United

Even when we lose to banter clubs

Ruben Amorim comes to play

Drawing to Ipswich

But that’s ok

Four nil to Everton

That went well

Rashford scores two, Zirkzee as well

Ten Hag sacked it was a good choice

Now he sits back slurping his tea

His bald head glistening and glowing in the light

But at least he helped us win the FA cup fight

Finally to finish off the poem I have to say

Man City have finally fallen off - and that's more than ok!

Breezes buzz and branches bend,

Whispers waltz through woods that blend.

Sizzling streams sing soft and sweet

Footsteps flutter where shadows meet.

Crackling leaves leap, then fall

Tinkling streams in twilights call.

Rustling reeds reach toward the sky

Splashing waves as birds fly by.

Charles Barbosa Silva, 1st Year

The birds sing songs for me and you,

The bees go buzz,

The sun is warm,

The sky is blue,

The trees go creak,

The wind goes whoosh and clouds play peek.

The flowers bloom,

Their colours show,

The stream moves fast,

It whispers low,

The leaves go rustle,

The world feels bright,

A happy place from morn to night.

At night the stars twinkle up high,

The moon shines soft,

Lightning the sky,

The breeze goes shhh,

The world feels still

A quiet calm on every hill.

So listen,

And you will see,

The world is full of melody.

By: Alika Anusheva, 1st Year

The dog hit his head off the door.

My Mom screamed.

My sister felt sick after been fed.

Its the worst day you could dream of!

Dad came home in his car.

My brother was very moody.

Then the dog ran outside in the dark.

We will soon need a Judge Judy.

This is my poem about me.

I sit and write this with glee.

I hope I don’t get stung by a bee.

My favourite thing to do is hurl.

My dog is chasing a squirrel.

If you look in the clam you will find a pearl.

I have a pet fish.

His name is Swish.

I hope he does not go splat or else the cat will get fat.

I see a bird fly past,

Going really, really fast.

And when it lands on the water still,

My heart with warm glow fills.

The bird lands on lake water lapping,

And chirps a gentle sound.

Stopping the dogs yapping,

And making my heart pound.

Then, quick as a flash,

The bird takes off as fast as lightning.

I fall down with a crash,

And give a lady quite a frightening.

By Sophia Doerflinger Duffy

1st Year

Ingredients

3 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

One quarter teaspoon of salt

1 and a half teaspoon of ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon of ground cloves

6 tablespoons of unsalted butter softened

½ cup of brown sugar

1 large egg

½ cup of molasses

Instructions

1.Get a bowl and whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves

2.In a separate bowl beat the butter and brown Sugar until creamy. Add the egg and molasses and mix well.

3. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.

4.Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic and chill for an hour

5. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius and line baking tins with grease proof paper

6.Rollout the dough on a floured surface and cut out shapes with cookie cutters.

7. Put the cookies in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until brown

8.Let the cookies cool and if you want to decorate them you can use sweets and icing.

Ingredients Snowman cupcakes

. 200g caster sugar

.175g flour

.50g coco powder

.1and 1 half tsp baking powder

. Half teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

. Pinch of salt

.100ml of sunflower oil

.2 eggs

.2 tbsp of soured cream

.125ml of boiling water

Ingredients for the buttercream

.200g butter

.400g icing sugar

.1-2 tbsp of milk

To decorate

. White ready to roll fondant icing

. orange food coloring

. Red food coloring

.12 white marshmallows

. Black writing icing tubes

.2 tsp desiccated coconut

.12 pretzel sticks broke in half

Instuctions

Preheat the oven to 170C/160C Fan/Gas 3½ and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cupcake cases

.

Sift the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sunflower oil, eggs and soured cream until smooth. Add the boiling water and beat again until silky smooth.

Scoop the batter into a jug and pour evenly between the paper cupcake cases. Bake for 20–22 minutes until well risen and a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the buttercream, beat the butter until pale and light, then gradually stir in the icing sugar and milk until smooth

.

Make the snowman noses with 25g/1oz of fondant icing. Add tiny dots of orange food coloring paste using a wooden skewer and knead until completely orange. Roll into 12 small carrot shapes about 1cm/½ in long. Leave to dry for 30 minutes.

Tint the remaining icing red using food coloring paste. Dust a work surface with icing sugar and roll into a neat 12cm/4½ in x 6cm/2½ in rectangle. Slice into 12 strips about ½ cm wide, to make the snowman scarves

7. Use the black writing icing to draw eyes and a mouth onto each marshmallow and stick an icing carrot just below the eyes

.

8.Spread the buttercream on top of each cake and press a marshmallow into the icing. Scatter over the desiccated coconut and push two pretzel halves into each.

By Anonymous

I love the excitement of going down to matches in the car, chatting with friends. We share stories about our past playing soccer and this makes our friendship even better. The car journey to the game is just as enjoyable as the match.

Playing soccer is one of my favourite things to do. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of being on the field, dribbling the ball and passing to my teammates. Scoring a goal is for me, defiantly the best feeling in the world.

In my future I hope to be playing soccer and maybe even become a coach. I want to share my love for the game!

The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the national football league (NFL) as a member of the national football conference (NFC).

The Rams play their home games at SoFi stadium in Inglewood California. They share this stadium with the Los Angeles chargers. They were founded in 1937. They won the Super Bowl in 1999 and 2021.

They started in Cleveland but moved to LA in 1946. In 1995 they moved to St Louis Missouri where they won the Super Bowl in 1999. In 2016 they returned to LA where they won the Super Bowl in 2021.

By Jayne Kemple

Make these beautiful Christmas shortbread biscuits. They are wonderfully crumbly and go perfectly with a cup of tea for a mid-morning treat.

Ingredients:

150g plain flour

100g butter

50g caster sugar

Method:

Step 1: Heat the oven 170C/150C/Gas 3. Put the flour, butter and sugar into a mixing bowl.

Step 2: Use your hands to combine the ingredients until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs, then squeeze until it comes together as a dough.

Step 3: On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough ½cm thick.

Step 4: Cut the dough into squares and place on a lined baking tray. Use a fork to create imprints.

Step 5: Then sprinkle with the remaining caster sugar.

Step 6: Chill the dough in the fridge for 20mins then bake for 15-20mins until golden brown. Remove the shortbread from the oven and leave to cool on the tray.

Step 7: Decorate with any festive treats you like.

STEP 8: ENJOY.

By Cody Flanagan (2nd Year)

Christmas cookies are simple vanilla biscuits, cut out in Christmas inspired shapes, with festive icing to top it off and make it a tasty treat for the holidays.

What will be needed:

Butter, Eggs, Vanilla, Flour, Sugar, Salt, Baking Powder, and Rolling Pin

Steps:

1. Add your salt, vanilla, sugar and eggs into the bowl and mix.

2. Add your flower to the bowl and mix with the other ingredients.

3. Keep mixing until it becomes dough.

4. Use the rolling pin to flatten the dough.

5. Use your festive cookie cutters to shape your biscuits.

6. Bake the cookies in an oven preheated at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

7. After the cookies are done, use your festive icing to design your cookies. To make it personal for your Christmas.

8. Let the icing harden and enjoy.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Anonymous, 2024

The Muppet Christmas Carol is often regarded as a classic Christmas film that many people watch each Christmas. That being said, are you truly getting the most out of your Christmas if you don’t sit down to watch this film with your family each year?

The film, released in 1992, is based on Charles Dickens’ novel, A Christmas Carol. It combines the story of A Christmas Carol with the characters of Jim Henson’s Muppets to create a heartwarming, hilarious and enjoyable take on the original novel. Michael Caine plays mean-spirited, grumpy old Ebenezer Scrooge who hates Christmas as he believes it is a waste of time and money. Over the course of one night, he is visited by the ghosts of his two former partners, Jacob and Robert Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future to learn about the true meaning of Christmas.

Of course, this is called The MUPPET Christmas Carol after all. Many characters from the Muppets portray different characters from A Christmas Carol, such as Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s assistant, Miss Piggy as Bob’s wife Mrs. Cratchit, The Great Gonzo as Charles Dickens himself and Fozzy Bear as Scrooge’s former boss Fezziwig (or Fozziwig as he’s known in this adaptation).

So, grab your drinks and Christmas treats and gather your family together to enjoy this heartwarming Christmas classic.

These cookies take 20 mins to prep and 10 mins to cook these cookies are very easy to make - they make up to 30 cookies. The ingredients you will need for this recipe are:

Ingredients:

60g of cocoa power sieved

200g of caster sugar

60ml vegetable oil

2 large eggs

180g plain flour

1tsp baking power

2 oranges

2tsp mixed spices

1tsp cinnamon

50g icing sugar

STEP 1

Mix coca power, caster sugar, oil together add eggs one at a time and whisk until fully combined.

STEP 2

Combine flour, baking power, orange zest, mixed spices, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt in a separate bowl add cocoa mix and mix until fully combined into a soft dough.

STEP 3

Heat the oven to 190/170 degrees cellos fan/gas 5 put icing sugar in separate bowl roll dough into little balls and put icing sugar on top and place each of them onto a tray.

BY ANONYMOUS

Ingredients for 12 cookies

100g granulated sugar 165g brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

115g unsalted butter melted

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

155g all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

110g milk or semi-sweet chocolate chunks

110g dark chocolate chunk

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars, salt, and butter until a paste forms with no lumps.

Whisk in the egg and vanilla, beating until light ribbons fall off the whisk and remain for a short while before falling back into the mixture.

Sift in the flour and baking soda, then fold the mixture with a spatula (Be careful not to overmix, which would cause the gluten in the flour to toughen resulting in cakier cookies).

Fold in the chocolate chunks, then chill the dough for at least 30 minutes. For a more intense toffee-like flavor and deeper color, chill the dough overnight. The longer the dough rests, the more complex its flavor will be.

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Scoop the dough with an ice-cream scoop onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, leaving at least 4 inches (10 cm) of space between cookies and 2 inches (5 cm) of space from the edges of the pan so that the cookies can spread evenly.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the edges have started too barely brown.

Cool completely before serving.

By: Anonymous

I have a simple recipe to make gingerbread men. The ingredients you need are 250g of plain flour, 75g of butter, 75g of light muscovado sugar, half a teaspoon of bread soda,1 egg yolk,50g of golden syrup, half of a teaspoon of ground ginger and half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon. If you wish to decorate your gingerbread men, you can decorate using icing pens, melted chocolate and sweets.

How to prepare: first preheat the oven to 180degrees Celsius. Then cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. After that add the bread soda, golden syrup, and egg yolk, then stir well. Sift the flour and spices in a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until well combined. Shape the dough into a ball and knead lightly on a work surface until smooth, then wrap and chill for 30 minutes before using

Thinly roll out the dough and use gingerbread cutters to cut out the shapes. Then place on lightly greased baking sheets, leaving space between each piece. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until slightly risen and golden brown in color. Transfer the gingerbread men onto a wire tray. When cooled, decorate as you wish and enjoy!

Written by Claudiu Alexandru Ciobanu 2nd year

Prep:30 minutes

Cook:30 minutes

Serves:9

INGREDIENTS:

-Unsalted butter 200g (cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing)

-Dark chocolate 100g (chopped)

-Milk chocolate 100g (chopped)

-3 large eggs

-300g golden caster sugar

-100g plain flour

-50g cocoa powder

-½ tsp mixed spice (teaspoon)

Method:

step 1

Grease and line a 20cm x 20cm brownie tin. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Put the butter and both types of chocolate in a heat proof bowl and either melt in the microwave (in 30 second bursts, stirring after each) or set over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring every now and then until the chocolate has melted.

step 2

Leave the chocolate and butter mixture to cool a little while you whisk the eggs and caster sugar in a large bowl using electric beaters. Once the mixture is pale, fluffy and looks like it’s roughly doubled in volume, whisk in the melted chocolate. Fold in the flour, cocoa powder and mixed spice until no pockets of flour remain then pour into your prepared tin. Level the top with a spatula and bake for 20-25 mins. The top should look set and shiny but should be a little wobbly if you gently jostle the tin.

step 3

Leave the brownie to cool completely in the tin then chill in the fridge until set. While the brownie cools brush the rosemary sprigs and glacé cherries with egg white, dab off the excess with kitchen paper then dredge in caster sugar until well coated. Leave to dry on a wire rack. Put the chocolate truffles onto a sheet of baking paper or foil then spray with the edible gold luster.

step 4

Dust the chilled brownie with icing sugar to create a snowy surface and top with amaretti biscuit pieces then poke the crystalized rosemary sprigs into the surface at random intervals (cut the brownie into pieces and dust on icing sugar first, if you like). Nestle a glacé cherry or gold truffle alongside the rosemary sprig then add the buttons and silver balls.

By Seodra Dermody

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Refrigerate Time: 1 hour

Skill Level: Easy

Ingredients

~ 100g salted butter

~ 3 tbsp golden syrup

~100g dark muscovado sugar

~ ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

~ 1 tbsp ground ginger

~ 1tsp ground cinnamon

~ 225g plain flour

~ 50g icing sugar

Method

1. Heat the butter, syrup and sugar together in a small pan until melted, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool slightly.

2. Mix together the bicarb, ginger, cinnamon and flour in a large bowl. Pour in the buttery syrup mixture and stir to combine, then use your hands to bring together to form a dough. Add up to 1 tbsp of milk to combine if needed. The dough will be soft at this point, but it’ll firm up in the fridge.

3. Put the dough on a sheet of baking parchment, shape into a rectangle, and lay another sheet of parchment on top of it. Roll the dough out to a thickness of ½cm. Transfer to a baking sheet to keep it flat, leaving the parchment in place, then chill in the fridge for 1 hr.

4. Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5 and line a large baking sheet with more baking parchment. Remove the dough from the fridge and cut out shapes using a cookie cutter, (preferably Christmas shapes e.g. trees and stars.)

5. Place the shapes, spread apart, on the lined baking sheet, and bake for 10-12 mins. (Depending on the size of the cutters you use, they might need a few minutes more or less cooking in the oven). Leave to cool completely on the baking sheet.

6. Meanwhile, mix the icing sugar with 1-2 tbsp water – you want to create a consistency that’s thick and pipeable, and not too thin or it will run. Decorate the cooled biscuits with the icing using a piping bag with a thin nozzle (you can add food colouring to the icing to colour it.)

You will need:

20oz mini marshmallows

1 cup of salted butter

2tsp of vanilla extract

½ tsp of salt

10 cups of rice Krispies

1 cup of red and green M&M’s

1 cup of sprinkles

1.In a large pot brown your butter

2.Stir in the vanilla and salt

3.Add your marshmallows and mix until it is all melted

4.Add in the rice Krispies, M&M’s, and sprinkles

5.press down onto a pan

6.Put it in the fridge for three hours

BY :Anonymous

By Anonymous,

Christmas is a time of celebration and spending quality time with loved ones. It’s a time to catch up with friends and play board games, watch movies and eat sweets. It’s a time of joy, happiness and delight. The glee of the Christmas spirit. The excitement of opening the presents and putting up the Christmas tree. The overall joy of Christmas.

Walking through the town with the Christmas lights on and with a white carpet on the ground. The fire lit. The Christmas tree shining in all its glory. With the late late toy show on the tele, life is good.

But all good things come to an end, when you’re back in school. The tree down. The lights in town are off. Family gone back home. All there is left is memories and a year until it all starts again!

A very typical Spanish tradition is that the whole family gets together to celebrate this day (December 24) and have dinner together. Another tradition is that the Three Wise Men come to leave presents under a Christmas tree that they put up in every house.

As for food for the Three Wise Men, they love Christmas cookies and sweets. And don't forget three glasses of warm milk, one for each of them!

As for the decorations, they put up Christmas lights all over the streets, chestnut stands, and the processions and the cavalcade of the Three Wise Men go out to the streets.

And one of the most important things is New Year's Eve, 12 seconds before twelve o'clock, 12 grapes are eaten, one at second, and then the New Year can be celebrated.

On Tuesday the 19th of November the Portumna senior camogie team took on St Cuans college Castleblakenty.

The final was played at 7pm in the venue of Duggan Park Ballinasloe witnessing outstanding camogie from both teams.

In the first half, both teams were retaliating scores which lead to an extremely exciting but nerve wrecking watch. In the 26th minute Portumna were leading 1-05 to 1-04 before Katie Lawless took on a penalty goal which put the Portumna girls in a 4-point lead bringing us into half time.

Although Portumna may have had the lead, Cuans were not too far behind them and never gave up. The Portumna girls went on to score another goal securing the lead. The match finished with a final score 3-7 to 1-9 with an amazing win for the Portumna girls.

Portumna will now head into the All-Ireland semifinal hoping for the best of success helped by their management Ms. Kenny and Mr. Dunne.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Modern Fiction

The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

The Maze Runner series by James Dashner

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan

Holes by Louis Sachar

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Fantasy and Sci-Fi

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman

Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer

Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle) by Christopher Paolini

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

City of Ember series by Jeanne DuPrau

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Coming-of-Age & Realistic Fiction

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

Restart by Gordon Korman

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Ghost (Track series) by Jason Reynolds

Adventure and Survival

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Wildwood by Colin Meloy

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell

Peak by Roland Smith

I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World (Young Reader Edition) by Malala Yousafzai

Mystery and Thrillers

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

One of Us Is Lying (Teen Edition) by Karen M. McManus

Nancy Drew Mysteries by Carolyn Keene

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

Murder Most Unladylike series by Robin Stevens

Graphic Novels

Smile and Drama by Raina Telgemeier

Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi

New Kid by Jerry Craft

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

Bone series by Jeff Smith

Poetry and Short Stories

Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

Flying Lessons & Other Stories edited by Ellen Oh

Nonfiction and Biographies

Hidden Figures (Young Readers' Edition) by Margot Lee Shetterly

Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different by Karen Blumenthal

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba

We Should All Be Feminists (Adapted for Younger Readers) by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman

Here’s a list of the top 10 Christmas games for teenagers, perfect for adding fun and excitement to your holiday gatherings:

1. Christmas Charades

How to Play: Write Christmas-themed words or phrases (e.g., "building a snowman," "Santa stuck in a chimney") on slips of paper. Players act them out without speaking while their team guesses.

2. Holiday Trivia

How to Play: Create a trivia game with questions about Christmas traditions, movies, songs, and history. Divide players into teams.

3. Christmas Minute-to-Win-It Games

Examples:

Stack marshmallows or candy canes into towers.

Balance ornaments on a spoon.

Wrap a gift with one hand.

4. White Elephant Gift Exchange

How to Play: Each person brings a wrapped gift, and players take turns choosing one or "stealing" someone else’s gift. Add silly or prank items for extra fun.

5. Christmas Scavenger Hunt

How to Play: Hide holiday-themed items (e.g., candy canes, ornaments, or mini Santas) around the house. Give teams a list of clues to find them.

6. Name That Christmas Tune

How to Play: Play short snippets of Christmas songs or hum them, and teams guess the title or artist.

7. Holiday Pictionary

How to Play: Draw Christmas-related words or phrases on a board while your team guesses. Use a timer to add pressure.

8. Ugly Sweater Contest

How to Play: Have everyone wear their ugliest Christmas sweater. Add a twist by providing craft supplies to decorate them on the spot, then vote for the ugliest.

9. Christmas Movie Bingo

How to Play: Create bingo cards with common Christmas movie tropes (e.g., "snowball fight," "Santa appears," "a family argument"). Watch a movie together and mark off the squares.

10. Candy Cane Hunt

How to Play: Hide candy canes throughout the house or yard. The person or team that collects the most wins. Use clues to make it more challenging.

Christmas Holidays:

Friday, 20 December 2024: Final day of the term before Christmas break.

Monday, 6 January 2025: Schools reopen after the holidays.

February Mid-Term Break:

Monday, 17 February 2025 – Friday, 21 February 2025: Post-primary schools close for the spring mid-term break.

St. Patrick's Day:

Monday, 17 March 2025: Schools close for the public holiday.

Easter Holidays:

Friday, 11 April 2025: Final day of the term before Easter break.

Monday, 28 April 2025: Schools reopen after the Easter holidays.

May Bank Holiday:

Monday, 5 May 2025: Schools close for the public holiday.

Meta Quest 2 VR Headset – Perfect for immersive gaming and virtual reality experiences.

Dime 2 Wireless Earbuds – Compact and stylish earbuds with excellent sound quality.

Custom Name Neon Sign – A personalized LED sign to brighten up their room decor.

Lululemon Everywhere Belt Bag – Trendy and practical for carrying essentials.

Stanley Quencher H2.0 Tumbler – A stylish and eco-friendly hydration accessory.

Chefman Mirrored Mini Fridge – Great for snacks, drinks, or storing skincare products.

Pac-Man Handheld Game – A nostalgic gift bringing back arcade fun.

iMagic Virtual Reality Magic Kit – Combines magic tricks with phone-based technology.

Skincare Gift Sets – Popular brands like CeraVe, The Ordinary, or Glow Recipe are teen favorites.

Gaming Chair – Ergonomic and stylish for gamers who spend hours playing.

Subscription Boxes – Options like Book of the Month or snack boxes tailored to their interests.

Wireless Phone Charger with Lamp – A sleek bedside gadget that combines utility with design.

Ring Light with Phone Stand – Ideal for aspiring content creators or teens who love selfies.

Graphic Hoodies – Trendy designs from brands like Nike, Champion, or H&M.

DIY Craft Kits – Options like tie-dye kits, embroidery sets, or jewelry-making kits.

Bluetooth Speakers – Portable and stylish, perfect for music lovers.

Nintendo Switch Lite – A compact gaming console for fun on the go.

Fitness Tracker – Affordable options like Fitbit Inspire or Xiaomi Mi Band for active teens.

Personalised Journals or Notebooks – Stylish stationery for writing, sketching, or planning.

LED Strip Lights – Color-changing lights to transform their bedroom ambiance.

These gifts cater to a wide range of interests, from tech enthusiasts to fashion lovers and creative minds! 🎁

As Christmas approaches, we gather in the glow of candles and twinkling lights, seeking comfort in traditions that speak of peace, hope, and love. Yet this year, the words of the angels—*“Peace on earth, goodwill toward men”—*feel both achingly distant and profoundly urgent.

The world groans under the weight of suffering. In Gaza, where families seek shelter amidst rubble, the cries of children longing for safety pierce our hearts. In Ukraine, where winter descends on homes shattered by war, the yearning for peace is as raw as the bitter cold.

Elsewhere, silent struggles persist—displacement, hunger, and the despair of those left unheard.

How do we celebrate Christmas in a world so broken? Perhaps by remembering that the first Christmas was not adorned with garlands of ease. The Christ child was born into poverty, under the shadow of an oppressive empire, his family soon to flee as refugees. The manger teaches us that light often enters through the cracks of the world's deepest darkness.

To honour Christmas this year is to lean into its paradox: that the birth of hope comes not in times of perfection, but precisely when the world seems at its most fractured. It is to believe, fiercely, in the promise of Emmanuel—God with us—even in the rubble of Gaza, the frozen fields of Ukraine, or the silent struggles closer to home.

This season, let us let the light of Christmas guide us toward acts of compassion. Let it inspire us to amplify voices calling for justice, to extend a hand to the displaced, to cradle the hurting in the warmth of community.

May our Christmas tables, no matter how humble, hold an extra place in our hearts for those in need. And may the hope born in Bethlehem rekindle our belief that, even in the darkest of nights, a star can still rise.

This Christmas, let us hold fast to the light.

For the world’s brokenness does not diminish the promise of hope—it makes it shine all the brighter.

Ingredients: 

• 100g of butter with extra for the tin  

• 250g of shortbread biscuits  

• 75g of sweets such as candy  

canes, marshmallows and jellies  

• 400g of chocolate  

• 140g of golden syrup 

• Sprinkles or more sweets to decorate  

Method: 

1. Butter and line a 20cm square tin or use a 20cm square silicone mould. Break the biscuits into pieces – they need to be no smaller than a pea, but not too chunky or your rocky road won’t hold together. 

2. Halve any larger nuts either by snapping them or carefully cutting them with a knife, then combine them with the biscuits. Halve any large pieces of dried fruit and chop or snap sweets into smaller pieces, then add these to the bowl. 

3. Melt 300g of the chocolate, the butter and the golden syrup carefully in a pan set over a low heat, stirring occasionally, then pour this over the biscuit and nut mixture and mix so the chocolate covers everything. 

4. Tip the mixture into the tin, then level the top – it doesn’t need to be completely smooth. Melt the remaining chocolate in the microwave in short blasts and decorate. 

Ingredients 

Brownies: 

275g/10oz dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids): 275g/10oz dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) 

275g/10oz unsalted butter: 275g/10oz unsalted butter 

85g/3oz pecans, broken into pieces: 85g/3oz pecans, broken into pieces 

85g/3oz milk chocolate, cut into large chunks: 85g/3oz milk chocolate, cut into large chunks 

85g/3oz white chocolate, cut into large chunks: 85g/3oz white chocolate, cut into large chunks 

175g/6oz plain flour: 175g/6oz plain flour 

1 tsp baking powder: 1 tsp baking powder 

4 large eggs, lightly beaten: 4 large eggs, lightly beaten 

1 tsp vanilla extract: 1 tsp vanilla extract 

325g/12oz caster sugar 

Icing: 

400g of butter  

800g of sugar  

Green food colouring  

Sprinkles  

   Method 

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas3. Line a 30x20x3.5cm/12x8x1½in tin with lightly buttered greaseproof paper or foil. 

2. Put the plain chocolate and butter in a large bowl, place over a pan of simmering water and allow to melt. 

3. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl and set aside. Remove the melted chocolate from the heat and stir in the sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla essence. Fold in the flour, nuts and chocolate. 

4. Pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared cake tin. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. The top should be firm but the inside should feel soft when cooked. Allow to cool in the tin. Remove the brownies from the tin and cut into triangles.  

5. Spread icing on the brownies and decorate with sprinkles.  

                            By: Anonymous  

No.1:  The Santa we’ve come to love since childhood was originally green and white! But was altered, as part of a 1930’s advertising campaign by Coca-Cola, to the famous Red and white.  

No.2:  Jingle Bells was originally a Thanksgiving song ! At a Thanksgiving concert in the 19th Century, An Musician named James Lord Pierpont performed, “The One Horse Open Sleigh,” at his church’s Thanksgiving concert. He wrote the song and it was re-published in 1857 with the more recognizable title ,”Jingle Bells,”. On December 16th 1965, the song became the first song to be broadcasted from space! 

No.3: Santa Claus is based on a real person! St. Nikolas of Myra (Nikolaos the Wonderworker, Bishop Saint Nicholas of Smyrna, and Nikolaos of Bari), who lived during the fourth century. Born in Patara (in modern-day Turkey), he is the world’s most popular non-Biblical saint, and artists have portrayed him more often than any other saint, with the exception of the Virgin Mary. He is the patron saint of banking , royalty , charity , and much much more! 

Furthermore, the harsh reality is that not all my family will be there this year, as I've lost family members, on top of having family in other countries like Australia who can't just pop home as the prices of flights are always so high. It is realisations like these that come home to roost approaching the festive season. There will, undoubtedly, be many moments when I will feel down. However, thankfully there will be so many things that will bring the mood back up, like spending time with the family I do have, including both my grandmothers and all the cousins and aunts I have here in Ireland.

Overall, the run up to this Christmas has been a weird one, but, nevertheless, I can't wait for Christmas Day, to be eating the mighty Christmas dinner. In our house it is a three-course affair - prawn cocktail to start, the traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings for the main course, followed by a sumptuous pavlova for dessert. After which, it is our family tradition to relax and have a few drinks around the family table, play games and enjoy this special time together.

The snow softly falls outside, 

Decorations sparkle and shine, 

Christmas music fills the air, 

As we gather 'round the tree, so fair.  

With laughter and joy, we come together, 

Each family member, no matter the weather, 

The love we share on this special day, 

Makes everything brighter in every way.  

From baking cookies to hanging lights, 

From singing carols to cozy nights, 

The magic of Christmas never fades, 

In our hearts, the memory never evades.  

We exchange gifts with smiles and cheer, 

Reminding each other we hold dear, 

The bond we share, unbreakable and strong, 

Like a sweet holiday song.  

The warmth of the fireplace, the scent of pine, 

The love that surrounds us, so divine, 

I cherish these moments, these memories so dear, 

For in them, I find peace and cheer.  

So here's to Christmas, my favorite time, 

Spent with family, in harmony and rhyme, 

May the spirit of the season forever stay, 

In our hearts, guiding us along the way. 

The heart of winter 

In the heart of winter's chill, the time has come 

To gather 'round the fire, with loved ones near 

To celebrate the season, to rejoice as one 

In the warmth of family, in the spirit of cheer 

The tree is decked with ornaments, twinkling bright 

With ribbons and garlands, a festive sight 

Beneath its boughs, presents lie in wait 

Wrapped in paper, tied with bows, anticipation elate 

The children, eyes wide with wonder and delight 

Awake at dawn, eager to begin the rite 

Of tearing paper, revealing gifts within 

Their laughter, music to our ears, a joyful din 

As the sun rises, casting its golden glow 

We sit together, a tableau of love and joy 

Around the tree, exchanging gifts, fast and slow 

Each one a token, a symbol, a special toy 

The scent of cinnamon, of mulled wine in the air 

The crackle of the fire, the sound of carols sung 

We cherish these moments, precious and rare 

In the company of those we love, forever young 

And so we celebrate this Christmas day 

With family, with laughter, with love to stay 

Opening presents, sharing joy and peace 

May this day's blessings never cease. 

1. Who hides in a bakery at Christmas? A mince spy

2. What do you get if you cross Santa with a duck? A Christmas quacker

3. What’s a horse’s favourite TV show? Neigh-bours

4. What do you call a boomerang that doesn’t come back? A stick

5. Why do birds fly south in the winter? It’s too far to walk

6. What do you get if you eat Christmas decorations? Tinsillitis

7. What did Cinderella say when her photos didn’t arrive? “One day my prints will come!”

8. Did Rudolph go to school? No, he was elf-taught

9. What lies at the bottom of the sea shivering? A nervous wreck

10. Who is Santa’s favourite singer? Elfis Presley

11. What did Adam say the day before Christmas? It’s Christmas, Eve.

12. How many letters are in the alphabet at Christmas? 25 – there’s no-el

13. Why are Christmas trees so bad at knitting? Because they always drop their needles

14. What did the farmer get for Christmas? A cowculator

15. Why did nobody bid for Rudolph and Blitzen on eBay? They were two deer

16. What did one snowman say to the other snowman? “Can you smell carrots?”

17. Why can’t a bike stand up by itself? It’s two-tyred

18. What school subject are snakes best at? Hisssstory

19. What do you get if you lie under a cow? A pat on the head

20. How did Mary and Joseph figure out baby Jesus was exactly 7lb 9oz? They had a weigh in a manger

21. Which side of a turkey has the most feathers? The outside

22. What carol do they sing in the desert? O Camel Ye Faithful

23. What time is it when an elephant sits on your fence? Time to get a new fence

24. What do you sing at a snowman’s birthday party? Freeze a jolly good fellow

25. What happened to Santa when he went speed dating? He pulled a cracker

26. Who’s Rudolph’s favourite singer? Beyon-sleigh

27. Who delivers presents to baby sharks at Christmas? Santa Jaws

28. What athlete is warmest in winter? A long jumper

29. What’s the most popular Christmas wine? “I don’t like sprouts!”

30. What does a frog do if his car breaks down? He has it toad

31. Why does your nose get tired in winter? It runs all day

32. What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? Frostbite

33. What do you call a line of men waiting for a haircut? A barber-queue

34. What kind of music do elves listen to? Wrap

35. What kind of motorcycle does Santa ride? A Holly Davidson

36. Why was the turkey in a band? He was the only one with drumsticks

37. What do reindeer put on their Christmas trees? Hornaments

38. What happened to the man who stole an Advent calendar? He got 25 days

39. What does Santa do when his elves misbehave? He gives them the sack

40. What happened when Santa got stuck in a chimney? He felt Claus-trophobic

41. What has four wheels and flies? A bin lorry

42. How do snowmen get around? By riding an icicle

43. How did Scrooge win the football match? The ghost of Christmas passed

44. Why is it getting so hard to buy Advent calendars? Their days are numbered

45. Why was Cinderella no good at football? Because her coach was a pumpkin

46. How does Darth Vader like his Christmas turkey? On the dark side

47. What do snowmen wear on their heads? Ice caps

48. When do vampires like horse racing? When it’s neck and neck

49. How does Santa keep track of all the fireplaces he’s visited? He keeps a logbook

50. What does a football team do when the pitch is flooded? Bring on the subs

His story begins back in 1996, at the age of 24, when his first album Infinite sold very poorly - it only sold 1000 copies. This was due to him being a white rapper in a majority black profession and due to not cursing to try and get played on the radio. After this he tried to hang himself but luckily failed. He was brought to the hospital and was unable to leave. He spent the time rapping with all the pent up rage he had. This led to the creation of the 'Slim Shady' EP. After this he entered the rap Olympics, in which he came second. It was this record that came into the hands of Dr. Dre who sky-rocketed Eminem to fame. It earned him a significant budget to record the Slim Shady LP that won 3 awards - one for best rap song of 1999 with 'My name is...', one for best rap album of 1999 and one for best rap duo with Dr Dre on 'Guilty conscience'.

The following year he came out swinging with the record-breaking Marshal Mathers LP that broke many world records selling 25 million records making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.

Then in 2002 Eminem released both the movie 8 mile which was based on his life and the Eminem Show both winning awards with the song from 8 mile Lose Yourself being the only rap song to win a Grammy and the song Without Me which also won an award.

In 2004 Eminem released 'Encore' which was received poorly. Subsequently he went 4 years without rapping. After going through a drug overdose and the death of his best friend, he was 4 minutes away from death after a drug over dose. having survived again, he went to rehab - coming out he released 'Relapse' in 2009 which followed him as a psychopath rapping in many accents. At the time it was received poorly but years later people see it as a decent album, despite it being rather creepy and being a horror-core album. In 2010 he released 'Recovery' (my favorite album every time, no competition). Many were surprised by this album as it was a rap-pop album with many features from out of left-field.

Three years later Eminem released the Marshall Mathers LP 2 with his infamous record-breaking rapping speed on 'Rap God' - this album was made to be a throwback to his heyday in 2000 and to show people that he was not one of the greatest he was and still is the greatest.

After he took a 4-year break to produce he came back with revival that many hated for being too political, corny and a 'failed attempt to appear black'. Nine months later he released a response album 'Kamikaze' - his shortest album, with only nine tracks. This album was created to discredited what critics and people had said about his last album.

Two years later he followed it up with the release of 'Music To Be Murdered By', an homage to master suspense film-director Alfred Hitchcock. It was his longest album of all and the second in the horror-core genre, though in my opinion it's not as creepy as 'Repulse'. The most successful song on it, 'Godzilla', saw Eminem once again break records for the fastest rap song, at a blistering 16.5 syllables per second. The second part of the album was released a little after and made his already-longest album ever almost twice as long.

It was four years later Eminem released his newest album 'The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace)', his first concept album. For those who don't know, a concept album is an album that, when listened to in order, tells a story. The story behind this album is that Eminem is battling against his alter ego Slim Shady. In the album Slim comes back (for the first time since 2013) to once again terrorise the world with his controversial lyrics. At the end of one of the tracks, 'Guilty Consciences 2', Eminem gets free from the restraints Slim put him in, beats him in a fight and shoots him, finishing by making apologies to everyone that Slim Shady hurt. The first part of the album is very similar to his early work including a song “Brand New Dance” though with a different name and “ Christopher Reeves” that was an entire song poking fun at the actor. It was originally supposed to be on encore but was taking out due to him dying that year. The album has gotten him 3 Grammy nominations for best album, best rap performance for Houdini and best music video, also for Houdini.

Many have criticised the album for Slim Shady being “dead” for many years others do not understand its story and do not like the album. Other don’t like it as that feel that he is too old to be Slim Shady. 

Speedy facts about Slim 

Years of work: 1996-2024 

Shortest album: 9 tracks 

Longest album: 30 tracks  

Songs: 400+ 

Family: 3 kids - 1 adopted. Has divorced the same woman twice. His mother died last week 13/12/2024; dad absent; one brother.  

Identity/Aliases: goes by Eminem, Slim Shady, Marshall Mathers and Bad (of Bad meets Evil) 

Most popular songs: Stan, Lose Yourself, Not Afraid, Without Me, Real Slim Shady, The Monster, Love the Way You Lie, River, Houdini and Mockingbird  

Innovation: He created a new word that was added to the dictionary- "stan", based on his 2000 song of the same name.

As we approach Christmas this is the perfect time to spend some time doing crafts and getting creative to add some charm to your household. In this newsletter we will be teaching you how to make a custom bauble for your Christmas tree!

Materials necessary:

Clear plastic or glass bauble

Paint

Paintbrushes

Glitter

Ribbon

Any personal item

Clear glue

Markers or names

Instructions:

Choose Your Bauble Base

Start with a clear plastic or glass bauble. These provide a blank canvas for your creativity. Remove the top hanger to make decorating easier.

Paint or Fill Your Bauble

For a painted look, apply a thin layer of acrylic paint to the inside or outside of the bauble using a sponge or brush. Allow it to dry completely before continuing.

Pour a small amount of craft glue inside the bauble, swirl it around, and add glitter. Shake off any excess.

Fill your bauble with tiny decorations like fake snow, mini pinecones, beads, or festive confetti for a layered, 3D effect.

Add Personalized Designs

Use permanent markers or paint pens to draw designs, write names, or include messages on the outside of the bauble. Get creative with festive motifs like snowflakes, stars, or holly leaves.

Seal and Embellish

Once your bauble is dry and decorated, reattach the top hanger. Add a festive ribbon or twine loop to hang it on your tree. For extra flair, tie a decorative bow around the top.

Gift or Display

These custom baubles make wonderful gifts for friends and family or can become cherished keepsakes for your own tree.

It’s that simple! That how you make your own custom baubles,

Courtesy of the PCS art class

We went to the Omniplex in Nenagh. I must say the seats were comfortable and we all brought our own snacks to eat. I found the movie interesting, and it helped me understand the book much better. For anyone who hasn’t read the book or watched the movie it is a touching movie set in a small Irish town in the 1980s. The story is about a coal merchant called Bill Furlong and his struggle to do what is right in a troublesome situation. The actors do a fantastic job, especially Cillian Murphy, who plays Bill with a lot of heart. The film also looks beautiful, showing the Irish landscape in a way that adds to the story's mood. I really enjoyed this day watching a movie with my friends.  

-Annamaria Bove  

Big shout out to Ms Durack, Mr Plews and parent Adrian Loughnane for all the hard work that has gone in to training each Friday afternoon, rain or shine.

In medieval times, Christmas was celebrated with a degree of crazy abandon that would make modern festivities seem rather tame!

Long before Santa Claus, caroling and light-strewn Christmas trees, the people of medieval Europe celebrated the Christmas season with the '12 days of Christmas' of song-fame - a sustained period of extreme feasting and mad revelry which came to a climax on Twelfth Night when one among the village would be crowned “King of Misrule” for a day.

Why did they go so wild? Well, the month before Christmas was the season of Advent, and this was a period of sustained fasting and avoidance of all rich foods for Christians. But the fast ended on the morning of December 25th. Then began a solid 12-day bender that would see all people 'eat, drink and be merry' til they fell into an exhausted heap.

The following were the most observed customs:

1. Feasting 

Christmas kicked off early in the morning with a special Christmas mass that signaled the official end of Advent and the start of the feasting season, which ran from December 25 through January 5.  

Obviously the richer you were the more decadent your celebration would be. But even poor people would have fattened a pig all year and slaughtered it in November ready for Christmas ham.

What about work, I hear you cry? Well the lords of the manor were expected to give their tenant farmers a solid 12 days off as well as providing them with a festive meal. It’s hard to know exactly what was on the menu, but in the "The Goodman of Paris," a text written in 1393, we can read of the required courses for a “special feast”; a starter of pasties, sausages and black pudding; followed by four courses of fish, fowl and roast meats; then a final course of custards, tarts, nuts and sweetmeats.  

This was just the 'smallfolk' or ordinary people. Medieval royalty took the art of Christmas feasting to the next level. For a Christmas dinner held at the Reading Abbey in 1226, English king Henry III's shopping list included forty salmon, heaps of venison and boar meat, and “as many lampreys as possible.” Henry V, who ruled in the early 1400s, included even more exotic delicacies on his Christmas menu -crayfish, eels and even a porpoise!

Drink was, of course, just as important as food. Common folk swilled down their food with ale and spiced cider; the lords and royalty gulped down wine by the barrel. In just one year, Henry III ordered 60 tuns of wine for Reading Abbey with one tun being equal to 1,272 bottles. That’s well over 76000 bottles! Even if he and fifty friends drank two bottles a day each it would take them 762 days, or well over 2 years, to consume it all. 

2. Mumming, Hoggling and the Feast of Fools 

Ever wondered where 'Charades' might have originated? Perhaps the medieval penchant for boozing had something to do with it, but dress-up games and role reversals were a massive part of medieval Christmas celebrations; some even were vestiges of pagan customs that had persisted as part of Winter solstice celebrations. One such, mumming, was a popular Christmas pastime in medieval English villages, and, because of the Anglo-Norman influence on Ireland after 1169, in Irish parishes too. Mummers would dress up in animal masks or disguise themselves as women, and then go door-to-door singing festive folk songs and telling jokes. Some mummers did it for fun, while others expected a few coins or small gifts in exchange. 

In the middle of the 12-day party was the Feast of Fools, held on January 1, in which all priests and church officials were given a one day to misbehave! Things sometimes got out of control. According to a 15th-century French document slamming the custom: 

“Priests and clerks may be seen wearing masks and monstrous visages at the hours of office… They dance in the choir dressed as women, panders or minstrels. They sing wanton songs. They eat black puddings… while the celebrant is saying mass. They play at dice… They run and leap through the church, without a blush at their own shame.” 

3. Bean Cake 

Celebrated on the night of January 5, Twelfth Night was a special holiday all its own in the Middle Ages, representing the culmination of the 12 days of Christmas merrymaking and mischief. Shakespeare's famous comedy Twelfth Night was probably written to be performed on Twelfth Night, hence the cross-dressing female lead and the plethora of practical jokes.  

The centerpiece of Twelfth Night was the 'bean cake', a rich fruit-filled cake in which a tiny dried bean was hidden.  Obviously the ancestor of our modern Christmas Cake, 'bean cake' had no lucky sixpence, but, naturally, a bean - whoever got the slice of cake with the bean in it was made ‘king’ or 'lord of misrule' for the night and could give people silly forfeits which they had to carry out. It was typical that the 'king' for a day would set embarrassing tasks for authority figures like parents, schoolmasters and lords to do, to the delight of everyone else!  

As the climax of nearly two weeks of excessive feasting, drinking, dressing up and rule-breaking, Twelfth Night was the epitome of medieval celebrations of Christmas, if not all medieval celebrations. 

And before anyone wonders was this just the norm in English or continental European settlements, one doesn't need to dig too deep to find ample evidence of Irish Yuletide excess either!

In 1351, William Ui Cheallaigh, Lord of Uí Mháine invited ‘the learned of Ireland, travellers, the poor and the indigent … both good and bad, noble and ignoble’ to a grand dinner to end all dinners to show off his newly-built castle on the shores of Lough Ree. On the menu was beef, pork, and oatcakes slathered with butter and honey. So many guests turned up that Ui Cheallaigh's stewards and hostellers had to build temporary shelters for them all to sleep in! The Christmas Day Feast was so successful that it gave birth toa new saying in the Irish language, Cuireadh fáilte Uí Cheallaigh romhainn (‘We got the O’Kelly welcome’), which was used from then on to indicate one had been the recipient of the finest of hospitality and treatment.

If you are curious to read more, I highly recommend you check out the new work of research, Christmas & The Irish: A Miscellany, edited by Salvador Ryan.

-Mr Plews

Santa Claus, or St Nicholas, was born to wealthy parents in c. 280 AD in Patara, near Myra,modern-day Turkey. Orphaned at a young age Nicholas was raised by his uncle, a bishop. Saintly from the start, he distributed his inheritance to the needy. Venerated as a paragon of kindness and generosity even in his lifetime, Nicholas became a priest, then eventually Bishop of all Lycia (Turkey).

One of the most enduring stories his generosity involves saving the daughters of a merchant from destitution by throwing bags of gold down their chimney for dowries, so that they could get married. It is believed that the hanging of stockings at the fireside finds its origins in this story, as well as the bringing of gifts down the chimney. On his death, on December 6th, 343 CE, at the ripe old age of 73, Nicholas was canonised, and the 6th December has been his feast day ever since. He is the protector of children, sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, brewers, pawnbrokers and students.

How does a Turkish saint come to lie in a Kilkenny graveyard? Although there is no definite answer to this question it is thought that his remains were brought to Kilkenny by a French Norman family living in the locality at that time, the de Frainets, who had lands near Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, and in France.

When the Saracen Muslim revolt began in 1087 in the Holy Land, these Norman overlords were ordered to go on Crusades to fight to free Jerusalem from the Muslims. Though that objective was not achieved and the Normans were forced to retreat, they did so bringing many sacred Christian religious relics with them.

Among these relics was the body of St Nicholas. It had been exhumed as they passed through Myra in Turkey and brought to southern Italy, where they remained in a church in Bari until the Normans were forced out of Italy by the Genoese.

The saint's body continued its journey to Fraxinet, a Moorish town near Nice, where they were entrusted to the French branch of the de Frainet ('of Fraxinet') family. Nicholas de Frainet, who lived in Ireland, fearing that the Normans’ days in southern France were numbered, brought the holy relics to Kilkenny, where the church of St Nicholas was built at Newtown Jerpoint.

Today, in the ruins of this church, you'll find the memorial slab marking the location of St Nicholas’ grave. This memorial depicts an effigy of a cleric, overlooked by two stone heads, locally believed to be St Nicholas and the two crusaders who brought the remains to Kilkenny.

This is how the body of St. Nicholas, or at least a good part of it (as the Venetians too claim to have stolen some!) arrived in Kilkenny, and where he remains to the present day.

As for Santa himself, however, we continue to watch the northern skies for approaching unidentified flying reindeer as Christmas Eve 2024 draws ever nearer...

Check out this episode of RTE's The History Show, an interview with Fr. John Wauck, which delves deeper into the mystery of St. Nicholas: https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/21887519/