“I love singing at Christmas” - soprano Celine Byrne

The Caragh star talks about her favourite Christmas memories and traditions

What does a typical Christmas look like in your house?

I love Christmas and I think that I have made this a contagious thing in my family.

My daughter is obsessed with Christmas and in actual fact when she’s feeling a little bit stressed she plays Christmas music she constantly watches Christmas movies and adores Christmas!

It’s a big thing in my family as my brothers and my parents come to my house for dinner and then all my siblings and their families come for the afters where are we play games drink eat and play spin the bottle secret Santa.

Tell us about your favourite Christmas as a child.

I love Christmas and always have and my best memories were when I went to my grandmother’s house because all of my aunts and uncles and cousins got together and we played board games and I was always asked by the adults to join them for trivial pursuit and I was made to feel like a young adult and not a kid.

My uncle would play guitar and we would sing and those were the best memories.

What’s your favourite thing to do around Christmas season?

My favourite thing to do is of course to perform. I love singing at my Christmas concerts and performing in front of a home audience. 

What’s the best Christmas for you?

The best Christmas is when I’m home to celebrate there was only two occasions where I was away. The first time I was away and my children and husband came to join me in Germany and Santa Claus came to the hotel and on the other occasion I was performing on Christmas day so I had to fly that morning but I was able to return the next day.

In Germany they celebrate Christmas on the 24th, which meant the 25th was a normal day but not me.

We’ve made it at tradition and our house now that on the 24th we as a family celebrate our own little Christmas privately having a nice dinner and exchanging gifts in the evening and then I will go to sing at midnight mass .

On Christmas day we cook for everybody so it’s a bit crazy so it’s nice to have that bit of closeness together to celebrate this privately the day before.

What’s your standard Christmas menu?

I mean, how many ways can you cook potatoes? We have gratin potatoes, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, croquet potatoes, and mashed potatoes.

Now add all the other veg like the staple Brussels sprouts, turnips, carrots, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, and then the turkey and ham and gravy.

It’s a lot of food, but there’s always leftovers so everybody comes back to my house and Stephen’s day for more. For desserts I always make sherry trifle Pavlova. We get a Christmas cake pudding and mince pies made in the local bakery and because my children don’t like cream I have to make for them carrot cake.

What traditions are unique to your family?

I think the tradition that we set ourselves which is to celebrate amongst our immediate family on the 24th.

There’s also a tradition in my house because I’m an opera singer that I will sing at several masses around Christmas time normally midnight mass. In Naas on 24th and 10am in Caragh and 12 in Naas on 25th.

The last couple of years it has been a tradition that I will sing at St Brigid’s Hospice in the Curragh to sing some Christmas carols to celebrate Christmas with all the residents!