Santa visits Johnny's Cottage in Longford

Santa Claus will be heading down to Ballinamuck next week courtesy of Ballinamuck Foróige.

Visitors will get to go and visit Santy in his cottage and talk to him by the fire.

Breda Cassidy of Ballinamuck Foróige, one of the organisers of Santa’s visit, spoke to the Longford Leader about the upcoming event.

“It’s the 14 and 15 of December and we’ll have it in the old Johnny’s cottage like we have before,”

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The event began before the COVID-19 pandemic and has been going on yearly for many years.

“Santy will arrive in the cottage, and the cottage is nice and decorated.

“He just comes and gives the kids a present. And it’s lovely in the cottage it’s all decorated and the fire will be lit,” she explained.

The event is to raise money for the Balliamuck Foróige group. The group provide activities, clubs and events for all the young people in the community such as arts and crafts, movie nights and of course, getting Santa to visit all the way from the North Pole.

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“We pour the money we raise back into the club again, it would cost a few bob to run it now though because you have to buy the presents and that.”

The event will no doubt be a great success for the group as they’ll be welcoming a whopping 300 children over the two days to come and visit Old Saint Nick.

“We see a lot of the community coming out to support and you know what a lot of strangers coming to us as well.”

The event has seen such a good reaction that it’s essentially booked out.

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The event has taken place at Johnny’s cottage since it began in 2020.

The historic cottage is over 200 years old and was donated to the Ballinamuck community by its namesake Johnny Reilly.

The cottage is deeply beloved by the locals and most of the county having been awarded Longford’s favourite building in 2021.