As a child, the annual family pilgrimage to Santa’s Grotto tended to go one of two ways. Either you rushed forward, relishing the thought of perching yourself on the jolly old fellow’s knee, relating tales of classroom accolades resulting in the awarding of the coveted “realt ór” or else you cowered behind dad’s legs while mam frantically tried to usher you towards Santa, insisting you make the most of your allotted time with an odd bearded man dressed in a red velvet suit. Whatever way you remember it, memories of visits to Santa and the resulting family photos have become iconic to each family’s personal Christmas tradition. While it’s always a given that we recognise our own smiling family members in the annual yuletide photo, I found myself wondering about the man at the centre of them. Who are the men behind that thick cloud of white facial hair who delight families every year and why do they don the prestigious suit?
As I learnt, if your mind so happened to be plagued with such seemingly mundane questions, and if you were to contact some stores for an interview, you would get the impression that Santas are not made, but born. Yes, one major Dublin store encouraged me to interview their Santa but required that he stay in character, Daniel Day-Lewis style. I was somewhat reluctant to do the interview given that questions such as, “Do you still embrace Christmas after work with your own family?” could yield frustrating results. Trying to salvage the potential interview, I joked with the PR rep that it may just add to the piece – showing how seriously he took the role. “No”, she said. No, because as far as anyone is concerned, he is the real Santa, she said. I said I would think about it and hung up, while already emailing another company, only to find that they did not want their Santa to associate with other Santas, for fear he would then be associated with other Santas. Despite having my own connections with elves, the pursuit of Santa was proving futile. It seems that the profession is perhaps more mysterious even than the mystical story of the man himself. Finally, I came across three Santas who were willing to share their tales from the throne: Nicholas, Paddy and Ger.
In Blanchardstown, the quaint little cabin was dressed chimney to doormat with sparkles, tinsel and model elves, all covered in a blanket of snow. If you picture the gingerbread house in Hansel and Gretel and then assume the witch to be that neighbour that really embraces the festivities each year, then you have a good idea of what it looked like. Pushing aside the red velvet curtain, manager James led us into the grotto. He gestured to a booth at the entrance where people buy tickets and to a price list hanging on the wall. The company has branched out to offer key rings: it seems that the business of visiting Santa is becoming more lucrative with each passing year, as new ideas for generating more money flourished. We passed a production-line display of elves and woodland creatures supervising a rotating machine of brightly wrapped presents, while A Spaceman Came Travelling tinkled lightly in the background. The subdued blues and pinks of the lighting created a fantastical atmosphere and the rows of fairy lights returned us to former Advent days spent rehearsing for our upcoming roles in the school nativity play. James ushered us into a room at the back of the cottage. Amid winter wonderland window scenes, Christmas lists and, of course, a Christmas tree, sat Santa in the centre on a red velvet cushioned bench, complete with exquisite red getup and boasting the type of white beard that would be the envy of Dumbledore and Gandalf alike. “Basically, I was an actor and an agent gave me the contact”, Nicholas said of his entry into the industry. It’s a handy gig for Nicholas, who happens to have a white beard year round. “People come up and tell me the most unbelievable stories. I could get a lifetime story standing at a bus stop just minding my own business. Not dressed in a red suit!”
“People come up and tell me the most unbelievable stories. I could get a lifetime story standing at a bus stop just minding my own business. Not dressed in a red suit!”
Although perhaps not obvious, Santas are usually played by professional actors hired specifically for the role. As a professional actor, Nicholas is familiar with the stereotypical response of actors to working with kids: “They say animals and children are the worst things you can work with. But it’s not true.” Naturally, Santa also needs to work with an actress to play the role of his wife, Mrs Claus. Mrs Claus arrives with an eastern European accent and incredible warmth to her as she offers to take our photos. She is the ideal Mrs Claus except for one thing: she looks about 35 years younger than Santa himself. It seems that while Santa is adored for being a jolly old man, Mrs Claus is not loved for similar characteristics.
It’s the reality of modern-day Dublin that all sorts of people come in. Nicholas tries to promote healthy lifestyle choices among his clients’ children: “I see a lot of obese little children come in and I always say, can you leave Santy an apple or banana?” He is also conscious that some families have a troubled relationship with alcohol and always discourages children from leaving out alcoholic drinks on Christmas Eve. It’s interesting to see that political correctness has even crossed the threshold of Santa’s grotto, the general feeling being that from a young age we should discourage drunk driving, even if said vehicle is powered by deer. This has also altered the traditional experience of interacting with Santa. No longer is it always the case that Santas feel comfortable with the traditional photo on Santa’s knee: “Now, I try not to have them sit on my knee. I try to have them sit here”, he said, gesturing to the seat beside him. “Because it’s much better and easier and safer for everybody.”
In his time as Santa, he has seen all types of people come in, but finds that even characters normally on the margins of society can be transformed by the experience of taking their children to Santa: “Drug addicts would come in and I always treat people the same. Even in that situation, they come out of themselves. They become part of the fantasy. You have to make the magic.”
“Drug addicts would come in and I always treat people the same. Even in that situation, they come out of themselves. They become part of the fantasy. You have to make the magic.”
As for how he creates this magical atmosphere, Nick must be an actor and entertainer and thus has a few tricks he employs. He interacts with a lot of children – the little angels, the tantrum throwers and the non-believers: “Most kids come in looking for Thomas the Tank Engine, and I say: ‘Do you know what Santa was doing yesterday? Don’t tell anybody, but I was putting the whistle in Thomas.’” He clasps his hands over his mouth and emits a flawless train whistle. Although Thomas the Tank Engine seems to have an enduring appeal, other toys have not been so fortunate: “I think I only got asked for one actual board game in the last four or five years”, Nick said of the decline of more traditional toys.
Surprisingly, it’s not the children who are the most challenging visitors for Nicholas, but rather a group that most would consider rather non-threatening: “The grannies. The grannies are the worst. It’s just ‘Look, ah your hair’s gone’, ‘Ah no don’t be doing that look’, ‘No, do not be making that face’. You know the aul fellas are just sort of, ‘Here let me out of here yeah that’s fine’”, he said, reflecting on the geriatric gatecrashers of the annual Santa trip.
“The grannies. The grannies are the worst.”
He has his own techniques for working with children: “You know why children cry sometimes if you do everything too fast?” he asked. He continued saying that it should all be done “on the heartbeat”. He glanced at us and asked if we are medical students. When we told him we were arts students, his baby-calming techniques are forgotten as he animatedly told us about friends and fellow actors linked to the college. He finds a mutual friend with the photographer and before I know it he is off discussing Bray and its various areas and residents. This seems pertinent, testament to the fact that this man behind the beard is just like the rest of us.
For Nicholas, being constantly surrounded by Christmas takes its toll: “It kind of spoils it for me. Then again it’s magic isn’t it? I have my grandchildren and that’s what makes my Christmas.” Clearly there is a downside to the role, too.
The following morning, a new day dawned and so with it came another trip to another Santa. This time we headed to the Ilac centre on Dublin’s Henry Street to meet the men behind the Santa Experience. Fairy lights dangled from the ceiling as co-owner and manager Greg led us from room to room, each more spellbinding than the last. Greg explained how they charge a tenner in for children and two for adults. Initially they didn’t charge for adults, but Greg explains: “One of the reasons that we started charging for adults was … the first year in typical Irish fashion we were doing this for children for ten and adults go free, but people were showing up with two children and eight adults.”
Greg and his father first started building the grotto six years ago by borrowing a friend’s furniture. Now father and son build the grotto with more appropriate materials while Greg’s mother decorates each room. They compare their prices with other companies offering similar services to ensure that they top the market in terms of value for money. Each room was more imaginative and intricately decorated than the one before it. An elaborate post office featured a working mail shoot, while a stable for the reindeer had everything down to the running list of the reindeer and the sleigh room had a full-sized moveable sleigh, a trip on which included a shower of lifelike snow.
Behind a wooden door set in a wooden cottage front sits Paddy Doolin, who has played the role of Santa in different establishments for the past nine years. Paddy welcomed us into a Christmas cottage scene one would expect to find in Lapland rather than in the heart of Dublin’s Northside. A common trend among all Santas, naturally enough, is experience with kids and Paddy, the part-time violin teacher, is no different: “See I have four children of my own and twelve grandchildren so I’m used to dealing with kids”, he smiled.
I asked Paddy what the best part of his job is. “Favourite part is getting paid”, he quipped, adding: “It gets you out of the house, gets you back into work … I’m seventy now, a couple of days out of the house is brilliant, give the wife a break”. He continued: “Financially I have a small pension, €230 a week and coming up to Christmas and all, the money is grand”.
He chuckled as he reflected on children’s antics: “They tell you things about their mammies and daddies, and the mammies and daddies be sitting there. You wouldn’t know where to look!”
Just as we were chatting, Matthew the elf burst through the door. With his mop of curly blond hair and beaming smile, he was so cheerful that I found myself thinking of him as a full-time elf. It’s his fourth year on the job and he loves it, calling it the ideal college job as he joked back and forth with Paddy.
Paddy said that Lego is still as popular as ever, crediting the new Star Wars with its upkeep, having brought out promotional Lego to coincide with the film’s release. One thing that has changed in recent years is the move away from gender-based toy labels, which he sees as a cause for celebration. “You get young boys coming in, eight, nine years of age and you say ‘What’s Santa bringing?’” he said. He smiled and answered his own question, “‘A kitchen! A red kitchen!’ It’s unbelievable: young boys are gone into this cooking, really gone into their cooking they are. It’s all on TV now, cooking programs and all and it’s brilliant… There’s no such thing as a boy’s toy or a girl’s toy.”
“‘A kitchen! A red kitchen!’ It’s unbelievable: young boys are gone into this cooking”
Finally, I got to meet with the man who started the Santa Experience. Ger Clarke is a lifelong lover of Christmas and, despite spending months working on the company’s grottos, he related how he has just enjoyed his previous night decorating of the family home in Limerick. “It has to be a real tree”, he stated, a hallmark of the true yuletide aficionado. A veteran Santa with 30 years of service under his belt, Ger owns and runs the Santa Experience alongside Greg. When working with Dell, he served as the resident Santa for all their Christmas parties over the years. Acting also as their European director, he travelled a lot, especially to the States. Already a big Christmas fan, seeing what was offered there made him feel “that there was nothing in Limerick” in terms of “a Santa Claus in the way it should be offered”. Six years ago he started the Santa Experience, with 900 kids visiting the first year. Now, the company sees 15,000 annually between their bases in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. It is certainly a booming family business like any other.
With all his years of service, Ger could go on for hours with stories, but he shared some of his favourites with me: “One of them was a little man. That’s all I could really call him. He had a little waistcoat on him and a little cap and he looked like something of a country gent. As we talked – as I talked to him as Santa – and obviously Santa knows everything about every child, and as I told him a couple of things he really didn’t know that anybody else knew, he ran up to the front to his mam and dad and said, ‘Stop! Stop! Stop! This fellah knows too much!’” However, Ger said that his all-time favourite story was when a young couple brought their niece, Lisa, to the grotto to see him and he felt a piece of paper forced into his hand. Taking it up, he read it, turned to the man and said: “Oh you’re very good to bring Lisa … and it’s even better when I know that next year there’s going to be another little baby here.” He explained: “That was how she told her husband that she was pregnant. We got a superb photograph, it’s the only photograph that you can’t see me, they’re all hugging so much… The following year they arrived in with a little boy.”
However, playing the role of Saint Nicholas is as much about the idea of a saint who cares for all children as it is about someone who delivers presents. There are the sad stories too, which, though heartbreaking, show how much the trip to see Santa means to some families. “We had a little young girl come into us the first year and she was very, very ill, but managed to stay with us for probably four years. She loved Munster rugby and if you asked her ‘What do you do when Munster score?’ she would try and stand up and she’d get her two arms and go ‘Yes!’ She died last year and we went to the funeral.” Other stories echo this sentiment. Last year they got a call asking if a very small sick baby could be brought up to the grotto. Sensing that it could be difficult, they said they would open late and wait for them. A few hours later a call came through that the baby wouldn’t make it to the centre. Santa, accompanied by his elves, all went to the baby’s home where the family was gathered. They had “the most joyous hour and a half with her”, singing and taking photos. “Unfortunately she passed away in the middle of the night. They got loads of great photos. You get to see a lot of families that carry immense burdens that the rest of the people would never know and we’ll do whatever we can to facilitate them and support.” He paused for a moment: “I won’t say it’s a pleasure. It’s an honour to do it”.
“I won’t say it’s a pleasure. It’s an honour to do it”.
So it seems that playing the role of Santa, much like the legend of Santa itself, is not something that fades from memory as the years go by. While the presents, the grottos and the children change, Santa Claus remains a beloved childhood figure, and indirectly, so too do the men who bring the magic to life for children every year.
