Once again we asked local schoolchildren to write special christmas stories – this time on the theme of ‘The West Cork Reindeer who saved Christmas’ – with magical results! special thanks to Dympna Daly and staff at West Cork Education Support Centre for their assistance.
Eoin O’Donoghue, 11 years old, 6th Class, Trafraska
Billy, the West Cork reindeer, was on lookout when suddenly, BANG!
Billy had warned Santa to catch up with technology but Santa was an old-fashioned man, now falling out of the sky with no ejector seat or no back-up system.
He had crashed into this giant telescope tower on one house in Glengarriff because the elf on the shelf quit!
Santa was badly hurt and wasn’t going to make a full recovery before Christmas but he still had to deliver the presents.
As for the reindeer, they were all good except for Rudolph – his injuries were too severe to go.
Without Rudolph, Santa wouldn’t be able to see where he was going, therefore leaving him lost because he had no SATNAV or GPS.
Christmas was doomed … until … ‘I can save Christmas!’ bellowed Billy.
Santa agreed to let him try and soon after with the help of the elves, they created Christmas tree lights, wrapped them around each reindeer and leading the line up was Billy, ready for action!
Santa sprinkled magic dust and the reindeer took off. Billy had never felt so alive. He had saved Christmas and that is why we have lights on our trees at Christmas – in honour of Billy, the West Cork reindeer.
Tadhg Horgan, St. Enda’s Kilnadur, 10 years old, 4th class
T’was a cold Christmas. It was the night of December 23rd. Santa’s elves had finally finished making the items that Santa was delivering.
Meanwhile, Santa and his reindeer were practising take-off.
Despite all the practice, the freezing conditions caused Prancer to be perished with the cold, making him ill.
The vet on call in the North Pole came to Prancer.
‘Oh, poor Prancer. I’m sorry Santa, but Prancer has hypothermia and won’t be better for Christmas’, said the vet. ‘How will I find another one in time?!’ Santa exclaimed.
Then, Comet had an idea. ‘Wait, Santa! I have an idea! What if we scavenge the world for a better reindeer?’. ‘It's worth a try!’, said Santa.
Santa got a list of every country from Afghanistan, all the way to Zimbabwe. He started with China and The UK. There was no good reindeer. Turkey? No. America? No. Brazil? No.
‘This is really stressing me out!,’ said Santa. He was missing one country, and that was Ireland.
He flew in from Portugal, landing in West Cork.
He was instantly greeted by many reindeer, but one stood out. His name was Spruce.
He was strong, fast and friendly. ‘He’s perfect!’ cheered Santa. He brought him back to the North Pole.
On Christmas Eve, they took off and Christmas was saved. Santa knew if he was missing a reindeer, he would know where to go.
Croíadh O’Sullivan, 10 years old, 5th Class, Cahermore NS.
It was the best time of the year, Christmas!
Snow was falling all over the world. Santa was busy making all the presents, all the elves were dancing.
All the houses were shining with lights and bursting with glee except one particular house. Every year this house was dark and gloomy.
Santa kept on trying to lighten their mood, but failed every year. Santa announced he was not going to fail this year.
Santa had taken on a new reindeer named Fiadh.
Fiadh was the most beautiful reindeer Santa had ever seen.
She was a very shy reindeer but she was kind and friendly. Santa found Fiadh wandering the roads of West Cork all alone last year.
She had lost her family in a terrible accident, she was the only survivor. Fiadh was delighted to be a part of Santa’s team.
It was three nights before Christmas and there was a bad blizzard in the North Pole.
With a strike of lightening Fiadh shot up in alarm and bolted out of the shed.
Suddenly a big boulder came tumbling down the mountain onto the shed trapping all the other reindeer.
As Santa and Fiadh tried to free the other reindeer the howling wind blew Santa’s magical hat and it flew away.
Without his magical hat, Santa had no magic and he could not fly! They looked everywhere for it but all they could see was snow.
Fiadh kept on prancing about, she spotted something red dangling on a branch. Her heart filled with joy. She ran over and nuzzled the branches until the red Santa hat fell to the ground.
Santa was delighted. With his Santa hat back, Santa managed to free the reindeer, and there was still time to go and sprinkle some magic on the gloomy house and save their Christmas.
So Santa and Fiadh set off on their mission while the other reindeer recovered from their injuries.
Fiadh, being from West Cork found the house without delay. With a swish and a flurry the house lit up, music and laughter could be heard from afar. Mission accomplished!
Fiadh the West Cork Reindeer had saved the day and Christmas for everyone around the world.
Millie Woodward, 9 years old, 3rd Class, St James’ NS, Durrus
Ok, so you know all of Santa’s reindeer (Rudolph, Comet…) but I bet you haven’t heard of (dum dum duuuuummmm…) ladies & gentlemen- BOB!
He is the best reindeer in the world (ok well maybe only in Ireland). (P.S. Bob is from West Cork)
Ok, so… once upon a time there was a reindeer called Bob. One day Bob was out for a walk. Suddenly Bob heard a voice! ‘Help!’ the voice said!
‘Wait a minute’, thought Bob. OMG! Bob recognised that voice!
‘OMG OMG OMG!’ said Bob!
It was Santa (Bob was obsessed with Santa, he had posters of Santa on his bedroom wall!) ‘Finally, someone came’ said Santa. Suddenly, Santa spotted Bob.
‘Dancer, Prancer, Comet, or are you Rudolph?’ said Santa.
‘I’m none of them, Sir’, replied Bob.
‘Who are you then?’ Santa boomed.
‘I’m Bob Sir,’ said Bob.
‘Bob,’ said Santa, ‘can you please help me?’
‘Ok, Sir,’ replied Bob.
‘I will need you to pull my sleigh or else there will be no Christmas,’ said Santa. ‘NO CHRISTMAS!!!!!’ screamed Bob. He was shocked!
Ok so they fixed the sleigh.
Then Santa attached Bob to the sleigh.
Off they went delivering presents but as they landed on the first house Bob looked at his watch and said ‘we only have 2 hours left’.
‘Don’t worry I have a time machine’.
And that is how Bob and Santa (but mainly Bob) saved Christmas.
Avisa Singh, 9, 5th class, Lisavaird
It was the 23rd of December and Santa’s factory in the North Pole was very busy sorting letters and presents for children.
There were only two days left until Christmas. In the factory there was a yellow building called Santa’s An Post, where kids’ letters came from all over the world.
Suddenly, the letters stopped coming from West Cork, causing panic.
Santa’s team investigated and found that letters from Rosscarbery were not arriving, but they did not know why.
They shared the news with Santa, who chose his best reindeer Rudolph to solve the problem.
Rudolph was from West Cork, he arrived in Rosscarbery and stopped at the Celtic Ross for a chocolate croissant.
He continued to the town square, where he found an invisible door in the Post Office.
Inside he discovered colourful pipes and found that a peanut was stuck in the red pipe. A child had thrown it into the post box in a hurry.
Rudolph vibrated the pipe with a tin whistle and freed it. Soon, all the letters flowed to the North Pole.
At Christmas, every child in West Cork received their presents, thanks to the smart West Cork Reindeer who saved Christmas.
Anna Cermakova, 8 years old, 3rd Class, Dromleigh
It was a busy time in the North Pole. Santa was getting ready for Christmas. However, Rudolph had something on his mind. He needed to see a Macroom basketball match.
Rudolph was nervous. He needed Santa’s permission. Santa refused. They were too busy in the North Pole.
However, naughty Rudolph snuck out through the window. He stole Santa’s Sat Nav and flew to the Sports Complex in Macroom.
Rudolph knew he was breaking a rule but he was excited to cheer for Macroom when they took on Killarney. He was delighted, Macroom won!
After the game Rudolph flew back home.
He snuck in through the window where Santa was waiting. He was caught!
Rudolph thought Santa would be mad. However, Santa sobbed ‘how could you see my old team without me Rudolph?’ It turned out that Santa had been the star basketball player for Macroom long ago.
From that Christmas on they travelled back to the Macroom blitz together.
It became their special tradition. Every December they enjoyed a special day in Cork. They ate their breakfast in the Celtic Ross Hotel, a spa in Clonakilty and dinner in Wild Garlic before the big game!
Emma O’Driscoll, 10 years old, 4th Class, Lisheen
One Christmas many years ago, my parents and I had decided we would spend Christmas at my Nana’s house in West Cork.
On Christmas Eve we went for an enjoyable stroll around Kilkilleen and I was looking out at Kilcoe castle. I noticed a little girl crying.
I thought ‘no one should be crying, it’s Christmas Eve’ so I ventured over to ask her what was wrong.
She began by telling me her name was Sophie and all she wanted for Christmas was a reindeer but her parents said Santa wouldn’t bring one.
We chatted for a while until Sophie said she’d better get home so I walked her home and wished her a happy Christmas.
That evening I couldn’t get Sophie out of my mind. No one should be sad at Christmas. I jumped up, grabbed my coat and said ‘If Santa won’t get Sophie a reindeer, I will.’
I headed east to the woodlands in search of a reindeer.
As I plodded my way through the marsh I heard a noise.
There in front of me stood a large herd of deer. As I stepped near them they scattered in all directions, except for one.
She came towards me and we both walked to Sophie’s house. Sophie had got her Christmas wish.
Maryjo O’Mahony, 11 years old, 6th Class, Leap N.S.
‘Santa, Santa, Santa! You don’t really think the reindeer are able to go out like this. This is their 2,024th birthday! And they are clumsier than ever. They’ll never make it!’ Maisiúcháin, the head elf of Santa’s Workshop, announced in one, big breath.
Santa snorted. ‘If they have made it this long, there is no stopping them. Neither will there be any stopping me! Ho, ho, ho!’
And so it was, on the night before Christmas, all the preparations had been made.
Santa hopped into the sleigh, well, I suppose it was more of a scramble because let’s just say, he went a bit overboard on the mince pies this year! ‘Good luck, Nicholas!’ Mrs. Claus cheered.
With a swish of the reins from You Know Who, they were off. ‘On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer, on Vixen. On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner, on Blitzen. And on … Rudolph!’ Santa shouted to the reindeer, who did not seem to have any sense of direction at all. But still, on flew the sleigh full of presents across the sky.
At the very same time back in West Cork, Ireland, nine other reindeer were preparing for a different sort of job.
A Christmas Show! And they were featured as Santa’s reindeer. All of them felt ridiculous.
All except Carol who believed that all Christmas carols were named after his ‘superb singing skills.’
The silliest looking of them all would have to be Holly who was dressed up as Rudolph. The thought of her bright, red nose made her cheeks go just as red!
As they trotted out to the pasture, Robin cast his eyes up to the sky. Silently, he wished he could leave this horrid place and join his heroes in Santa’s team.
Their master took one look at his reindeer all dressed up and a cunning smile spread across his face. ‘Perfect,’ he cooed.
Just as they were about to walk over to the stage, they heard a sort of jingle overhead.
Icicle was the first to look up and see what it was. Unfortunately, he was also the first to feel the impact!
He looked down to the ground to see what had hit him. And what met his eyes sent a spine- tingling shiver through his antlers.
A Christmas present! All neatly wrapped up and everything! In fact, everywhere that Star looked, presents were falling from the sky.
And what gave him the biggest surprise of all was the sleigh pulled by reindeer in the sky!
And the sort of magical, golden dust that was falling from it. Flying dust! Tinsel had only heard of Flying dust in the stories of … Santa’s sleigh!
Why? Why were there presents falling from Santa’s sleigh? Then suddenly, Merry, the smartest of all the reindeer, had it.
‘I think the reindeer have gotten too old! After all, this is their 2,024th birthday! I think they have forgotten how to lead the sleigh properly. Oh, oh, oh. I have it. Why don’t we collect all the presents and deliver them ourselves?’
‘Oh Merry, what a splendid idea!’ Angel cheered.
And so, because Merry was the smartest, they all followed her and did exactly as she instructed.
In no time order was restored and as they leapt into the air using the magical dust they had seen earlier, Merry smiled as he had never smiled before. This was the moment they had all been waiting for.
As the reindeer flew around the County of Cork, the North Pole was in chaos!
‘Santa’s sleigh has crashed in front of Leap National School! ‘We cannot send a rescue team because it is their day-off! There’s nothing we can do!’ Maisiúcháin screamed in frustration.
This was the biggest thing that had happened since the birth of Christ.
If only they knew a couple of reindeer who could save the day…
Isabella Kingston-Castro, 11 years old, 5th Class, The Model School, Dunmanway
It was a cold, snowy morning at the North Pole.
In Santa’s workshop all the elves were getting the presents ready.
Santa wanted to check the reindeers. When he got there, one of the reindeers was coughing and sneezing.
Santa was concerned so he got a test to see if he had Covid. The test came back positive. ‘Oh no,’ Santa said. Santa had to get a new reindeer but he didn’t know how. Just then one of Santa’s helpers said, ‘Well Santa, if you want a reindeer, the best place to get one is West Cork, located at Coolmountain.’
‘Coolmountain?’ said Santa. ‘Yes,’ said the elf.
So off Santa went to find the reindeer at this magical Coolmountain.
When he arrived at Coolmountain he saw, off in the distance, some beautiful looking reindeers.
He approached them and asked ‘which one of you fine reindeers are up for helping me save Christmas?’
The smallest reindeer stepped forward. ‘I am up for the challenge. My name is Diarmuid,’ said the reindeer, ‘I mightn’t look like much but I have speed and stamina to outlast the best of them.’
So, what happened? Diarmuid, the West Cork Coolmountain reindeer, saved Christmas.
Sean Óg Fox, 11 years old, 5th class, Dromclough
20 days away from Christmas … and it was absolute chaos!
Elves were bouncing around the walls after raiding Santa’s sweet bank! The reindeer were depressed after only eating gingerbread cookies all their lives.
Santa was nowhere to be found, but to be fair to him he was probably there.
The elves met him on a daily basis and they spoke in ancient Roman. Mrs. Claus accepted it, Christmas was ruined.
As a last ditch resort, Mrs. Claus sent out posters across the world. She could ride the sleigh… all she needed was a very brave reindeer!
10 days to Christmas.
In Bantry, West Cork, reside a herd of reindeer. Unfortunately, they wish to stay hidden so I cannot reveal their exact location.
Inside this herd there is reindeer named Darwin.
To say Darwin is a runt is an understatement. Everybody was mean to him, he had no friends.
When he saw the poster, he knew he could make a difference. One problem though – he couldn’t fly! He needed a miracle.
8 days to Christmas.
One morning a truck drove past the forest where the reindeer live. The truck’s boot was open and dropped a parcel at the edge of the forest.
Darwin found it! Inside there was a jet pack. This was the miracle he needed!
1 day before Christmas
Darwin has just arrived in the North Pole after flying for 7 days. The elves are still in their sugar rush. The doctor, a polar bear, says it will be another 7 days.
‘Welcome all you very brave reindeer!’ Mrs. Claus exclaimed.
Darwin looked around – reindeer from all over the world!
They were all a lot bigger and taller than Darwin, he felt threatened but determined.
He needed to do this. ‘Go get some rest you all must be exhausted,’ Mrs. Claus explained. She was right, he was tired so he went to take a nap.
Christmas day
‘Today is the day!’ Darwin thought to himself. Mrs. Claus started calling out names and their placements on the sleigh.
Finally, she got to Darwin. ‘Darwin at the very front!’ she shouted.
‘Me!’ Darwin exclaimed, he never thought he’d be at the front but there he was.
You might be wondering how they are going to get around the whole world? The sleigh moves on its own, they only need the reindeer to keep it afloat.
They were off. They flew to Spain, Africa then to India and back to England. It felt like they were going at a million miles an hour.
The best part, he was the leader. In the end everything went back to normal and peace returned in the North Pole.
Will Jennings, Ardagh BNS, Rosscarbery, 6th class, 12 years
It’s a lovely white Christmas here in West Cork.
Children are playing in the snow, adults getting cars stuck!
All newspaper companies are closed, all except the Southern Star!
As the Southern Star was the only newspaper company open, they were doing a giveaway of a lovely white and brown reindeer named Star!
Along with Star they were giving a sleigh for Star to pull. The winner could keep Star and the sleigh from the 17th of December until the 25th of December, a whole week!
That changed when Santa lost Cupid.
He would need a new reindeer but the only reindeer left in the world was Star.
Santa got on to the Southern Star to see if he could borrow Star! Of course, they said ‘yes’ or else there would be no Christmas!
It took a while for Star to get to the North Pole and on the 23rd of December, Star made it to the North Pole!
However, they would be leaving again in less than 24 hours!! They were going to be busy.
They had to make their magic potions to make Star fly and get Star on the sleigh.
Finally, they made it to Ireland and Star was returned, best Christmas ever! Thanks to Star and the Southern Star!
