AFTER the switching on of the Christmas lights in town last week, festive spirits were lifted once again this evening as the Christmas tree in Ballygarry was lit up.

Every year Ballygarry House Hotel invites locals and guests to attend a “turning on the lights ceremony” where guests come out for an evening of mulled wine, mince pies & music and of course Santa Claus was always there to meet all the young girls and boys.

This year, of course, was different though. Padraig McGillicuddy, speaking at the ceremony, said; “We knew it was going to be different this year as unfortunately due to COVID this event was not allowed to go ahead. So the team here came up with a wonderful idea.

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“We ran a recent Facebook competition to pick one lucky family to come out and meet Santa and also turn on the Ballygarry Tree lights. We also wanted to kick off some Christmas goodwill and raise money for local charity Enable Ireland – so we collaborated with our Facebook and Instagram followers and donated one euro per shares and we got a great response raising over €800 for Enable Ireland, which my niece, Aoise Healy is very involved in.”

The winners of the competition were the O’Flaherty family from Ballymac and they duly pressed the button to light up the tree.

The famous Ballygarry Christmas tree has become well known in Tralee and surrounding areas due to its location at the gateway to the town and of course its imposing size.

Remaining very upbeat through this second lockdown Padraig McGillicuddy said it’s “a beacon for hope in such a difficult year and a shining light for 2021 to lift everyone from the COVID gloom and get everyone in the Christmas spirit”.

“We are looking forward to a busy December & re-opening our hotel so we can get our full team of staff back into work. We want to thank everyone for their well wishes & support throughout the past year.” added Padraig.