'I just love it' - Meet the Derry man with his Christmas decorations up already
John McGinley from the Creggan area of Derry says he loves Christmas that much he has his decoration up already - in SEPTEMBER!
A man from Derry who adores Christmas could be the first in the country to have the house decorated.
John McGinley is from the Creggan area of Derry and says he has always loved Christmas.
He put his Christmas decorations up last week, a small bit earlier than he usually would have over the past eight years.
“The main reason is that I just love Christmas so much. Every year, it seems to have gotten earlier. I used to put them up on Halloween night, and then these last three years, it's gotten earlier and earlier,” John shared.
It took John almost two days to decorate the house, with downstairs taking about 10 hours, and that’s not including outside.
In the past three years, the decorations have been put up towards the end of September, rather than his usual tradition of on Halloween night.
He said this year is likely the earliest he’s ever put them up, but he’s away on holidays next week for a week, so decided last week would be the perfect time to do it.
John’s husband, Ryan, warned that while John is away, he does not want to be embarrassed should a delivery driver come to the door and see outdoor baubles, lights, or Christmas trees in the garden.
However, on Halloween night, outside will turn into a Christmas grotto too.
Walking past their home, you wouldn’t know there are decorations “everywhere” inside, even in the bathroom.
“I just love it. I love the lights. I love the decorations, the Christmas music, the cinnamon smells. And then coming into the winter, I just love the dark mornings and the dark nights,” John shared.
“There's just something special about Christmas, but I can't pinpoint what I love, and everybody knows I'm obsessed with it,” he continued.
John loved Christmas as a child, but doesn’t remember when it became an obsession.
It seems to run in the family though, as last year he and his aunty had a Christmas decorations competition, with people voting on social media on whose house was best.
John had quite the collection of decorations building up over the years already, and spent a further £400 on more to help him win the contest.
He won the competition; however, he is yet to win over social media in general when it comes to decorating pre-Halloween.
He says the reaction he receives is “50-50.”
“It’s more on the lines of, ‘it's far too early, Halloween's not here.’ ‘I can't believe you've done that,’ and then a lot of people just love it so much,” he said.
Despite the small amount of criticism, John reminds himself that their opinions don’t matter.
“If I'm actually happy, why not do it? I'm not hurting anybody. It's just me, myself and my own house that I like to look at the lights,” he shared.
When asked about his husband, John said Ryan has “no choice” but to love Christmas.
John now decorates on his own while Ryan is at work, as they used to argue over how the decorations and lights were being put up.
“The only thing he doesn't like is the electricity. That's something I need to put money aside for next Christmas,” he said.
By the time January 6th comes around, which is when the decorations are taken down, John’s home will have been decorated for 16 weeks.
For some, it might seem excessive. For John, there’s “nothing better” than “sitting looking at the Christmas tree, watching a Christmas film with ice-cold Baileys.”
As a Christmas superfan, Lapland has been a bucket list destination for John.
He’ll be heading over with Ryan in November, and they cannot wait.
He also can’t wait for the shops to properly stock their Chritmas stock, despite a ban on buying after last year’s spend.
“I said I wasn't buying anything, but I have spotted one or two things that I will be buying. There are some shops that have some decorations, but not to get me excited. So when they're full aisles open at Christmas, I will purchase one or two or three more bits,” John said.
If you’d like to see more of John’s Christmas grotto home, you can follow him on TikTok @John_Derry.
To conclude, John says, “ho, ho, ho.”