Lorraine Keane, Alan Hughes, and Norma Sheahan reminisce on their favourite Christmas memories

My dad, who has just turned 80, was a full time musician all his life. Covid forced him to retire - The Indians were just about to celebrate 50 years as the longest running showband in the history of Irish showbands.

He would always work on Christmas night at some venue or other around the country. He would usually leave home around 5pm on a Christmas evening so my parents threw a party every Christmas Eve for the band members, their wives and all the kids - they were like family to us. The band would play, the kids would sing… so apart from Christmas with our own girls, especially when they were little, that is my most precious Christmas memory.

I’ve got five sisters and one brother and we always say that Christmas Eve was the most amazing time. My parents had a bar in the ‘good lounge’ - cocktail cigarettes multi-coloured with gold filters - so 80s but so fabulous… I remember Dad taking to the piano and all the kids singing Christmas carols and doing our party pieces while the parents were probably getting hammered on my dad’s cocktails made in his very 80s bar in the corner of the room!

There are now 38 of us in our extended family including my parents and their partners, all of my siblings, our partners and 20 grandchildren and we all still get together every Christmas Eve to celebrate.

• Lorraine Keane’s self tan, Decadence by Lorraine Keane, is available at Beauti Edit and pharmacies nationwide. Lorraine has raised over €300,000 for Breast Cancer Ireland in the past year through her Fashion Relief programme. Shop and donate at the Fashion Relief store in the Frascati Centre, Blackrock, Dublin.

Alan Hughes

Even though the panto is not on on Christmas Eve we still might appear on the Joe Duffy show or something so Christmas Day is our only day off each year at Christmas. Each year for many years myself and Karl (Broderick - Stadium Panto co-producer and writer) went to visit family and friends and wouldn’t get home until about 6 or 7pm. Two years ago we decided that we were going to stay at home for the day and it was absolutely bliss.

The Christmas tree lights were twinkling, the fire was roaring, the candles were lit, the smell of the food was emanating around the house, Mary Poppins was on the telly and we had a glass of champagne in hand. I have a lovely memory of sitting there thinking: ‘This is what Christmas is all about now’.

When you’re in the middle of panto season, and you’re entertaining thousands of people, the fact that you’re sitting there lovely and warm with a glass in hand is such a lovely memory and something we think of every year now when people invite us over for Christmas. We are straight back into it on St. Stephen’s Day so having this time for the two of us to decompress is bliss. The gas thing is, we were worrying about it, but our families were totally fine with it and so we’re continuing this tradition every year - a small turkey and ham, chilling out and watching films, before heading back into a run of two shows a day.

We have our decorations up since the end of November - we are so busy that we have to do it before we start rehearsals - the last thing you want to do at the start of a panto run is sort through decorations and lights and put up the tree.

We love our cast and crew and call them our panto family, but I think my favourite thing at this time of year is to see the look on the kids' faces. Some of these kids may never have seen a live show before and some of the stuff they shout up at you…! I love to see the joy on the children’s faces but also to see the reactions of their parents. Karl writes for the parents too so they’ll be laughing at jokes the kids won’t quite get.

We get all the kids up at the end to dance in front of the stage and then we get all the dads up to dance on the stage and the kids love to see that. The tradition of pantomime that we have in the UK and Ireland is so unique and is really something we should cherish.

• The Stadium Panto Beauty and The Beast, A Sammy and Buffy Adventure runs at the National Stadium Dublin From the 10th December 2024 to the 5th January 2025. Tickets from €32.50. Family ticket (admits four people) available for €99. For tickets go to panto.ie 

 Norma Sheahan

I have so many Christmas memories that bring back that warm tingly feeling. One of my fondest memories is of the year I had my first hickey. I went to the cinema with a fella on Christmas Eve and got a love bite. I couldn't wear my Christmas outfit - I had to pretend that I had the flu on Christmas day and wear a polo neck all day.

There was the year that my dad poured so much Paddy whiskey on the Christmas pudding that my five year old was blotto. And the year I was put on mash potato duty for 17 people. I dumped M&S mash into a bowl and pretended I had made it. I got found out and have been cancelled from cooking duty ever since.

There was the year I was broke and bought a cheap shirt for a boyfriend. Then I queued in BT's Christmas wrapping department and got it wrapped in their trademark fancy paper. His sister then ratted on me that Ben Sherman wasn't available in Brown Thomas.

There was the wonderful time I robbed a shoddy bottle of wine from home for a college digs dinner party. The bottle had been filled with poitin and resealed. That was one hell of a Christmas party. The year my parents went to give the Roses boxes to their colleagues and relatives but someone (ahem!) had cleared them out leaving only the orange and strawberry ones was less successful.

I think back fondly to the year that my kids woke at 2am to open their presents and never went back to sleep. It would be great if Santa could deliver between 6am and 7am only - although he'd be under a lot of pressure then God bless him.

There’s been a few, but my favourite Christmas memory of all is the year I stood outside the Pinoccio toy shop in Cork on Christmas Eve, wishing, just wishing, that I could get the wooden jigsaw in the window as a surprise on Christmas morning even though I hadn't put it in my Santa letter. My wish came true. It was a real Christmas miracle.

• Norma Sheahan is newly divorced, horny as hell and believes 50 is the new 30. Join her as she turns her midlife crisis into a midlife climax. It’s Wine O’Clock with Norma Sheahan is going on tour from The Gaiety to Galway, the Cork Opera House to Castleblayney. See Instagram @normasheahanactor for tour dates.