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And believe it or not, there are some Greystonians who, rather
From singing carols in The Burnaby on Christmas Eve to getting sick in the car park of The Rugby Club on St Stephen’s night, these are memories many of us share. The trick
Neville Doyle [2020]
Karl Long [2018]
I’ll be spending this Christmas in Anhui Province of China, where Christmas will be a normal Monday in work, and I’ll be in minus-35 degree Vladivostok
Twenty years have past since I left for Australia, and I have
Mary Foley Seletsky [2018]
Christmas Eve racing around, buying last minute presents, and
It was a reunion, everyone catching up and chatting about what they had been up to for the last year in happy festive atmosphere. Then much to the dismay of Dennis (the old bar manager) and Billy Byrne (the new bar manager), the singing would begin. Everyone singing Christmas carols, then
We will not make it home this year but I hope everyone in Greystones has a very happy
Michael Foley [2018]
Louise Padley [2018]
What I miss about Greystones!!? Everything. I get home once a year and it never ceases to
Concepts, Brooke & Shoals and the 3Q’s – I’m greeted like one of the family. Oh, and O’Brien’s as well. To be remembered when I’m only home once a year is just fantastic, and so good for the soul. Walk into SuperValu and Marge remembers my name, and always enquires after my mum. Same with Valerie in AIB. These are the
Greystones is a magical place, where no matter how long you have been away you are always made to feel as if you belong. No place can or
Fiona Mills [2018]
The Christmas Eve shenanigans at The Burnaby, where it was so packed it
Going to mass Christmas morning and seeing the people from the night before, all
Ken Loftus [2020]
Then on the day all round to Mums, for dinner and more booze.
Those days are gone, we’ve on to places far away.
Come on down…
t’s the one place the heart wants to be when it comes to Christmas, 
but not everyone can make it back to the ranch in December.
t’s the one place the heart wants to be when it comes to Christmas, 
but not everyone can make it back to the ranch in December.And not just because you know that the crackers aren’t the only things like to snap when the family gets back together.
And believe it or not, there are some Greystonians who, rather 
than spend the festive season battling bad weather and annoying siblings, bizarrely choose to hang out with Santa on a sun-kissed beach instead.
than Mind you, there are plenty of people – such as John Gibney in Manchester – who would happily bask in our misty, murky winter weather just to spend Christmas back home in the town that they grew up in.
Each year, we put the call out to those Greystonians living abroad, asking them to let us know about their home thoughts at this special time of year, and the answers came back from Florida, China, Saudi Arabia and Bray.
Louis O’Meara even managed a poem. That’s how much he misses the place.
From singing carols in The Burnaby on Christmas Eve to getting sick in the car park of The Rugby Club on St Stephen’s night, these are memories many of us share. The trick 
to a good life though is to keep creating new ones…
to a good life though is to keep creating new ones…Neville Doyle [2020]
Left Greystones back in 1961, basically because I just couldn’t find work. Still miss the town, the family and the sea. And rowing English visitors 
around the pier for sixpence.
around the pier for sixpence.Been living in the UK for 60 years now but still miss home. So, I’ll just say, best wishes to all my family and friends back in Greystones – and I’ll hopefully see you there next year…
Karl Long [2018]
I left Greystones on August 21st, 2002 – so, this will be my 16th Christmas away. Mercifully, I have been back for a couple though…
Karl with sister Lesley Anne
on the East coast of Russia for New Year – home of the lovely Anastasia Long.
Kevin Cronin [2018]
become another keeper of the memory of the ‘Greystones’ that we grew up in. For me, it has ceased to age; frozen, a collection of childhood memories undiluted by the development that has come with the passage of time.
After the cinema on a Saturday night, Pennycooks chips for the journey home. My friends now scattered around the world. The dances at St. Killian’s Hall, the Artones…
homesick feeling any easier at Christmas.
picking up the turkey. Running into the Shopping Basket for last minute bits you forgot, and Mrs. Mooney’s for the newspapers. Then, Christmas Eve night in the Burnaby, seeing friends who were home too, from all across the country, across the globe, over Bray Head and just up the road.
the lights would flash on and off, signalling last call. Then everyone reluctantly heading home, up the main street, still singing!!!
Then, Christmas night in our house was another festive affair. Our friends and neighbours would come over for drinks, ham and turkey sandwiches, Ritz crackers with cream cheese and tomatoes, and even soup. The singing would commence as soon as our Dad belted out this favourite, The Boys of Wexford, and this would lead to dancing, and more singing, and more sandwiches, then more dancing, before everyone headed home.
Those are my memories of our Christmases in Greystones, when all of our family was together. My brothers Eamonn, Tom, Michael and Fergal, and our Mum & Dad, and, of course, my hubby, John. No matter how many years pass, those memories of fun and happy celebrations with our friends Karen & Jim, Fiona, Charlie, Hilary & Paul Roche, Aine and Brigid Mooney, the O’Hanlons, Valerie & Phylis Lynch, etc, etc, and my family, will always stay with me.
Christmas, and if you are in the Burnaby for one or two, raise a glass with the people who were lucky enough to make it home this year for Christmas.
Jennifer O’Brien [2018]
amaze me that, despite the fact Greystones is no longer the village I grew up in, you still walk down the street and are greeted and indeed hugged by so many people. That’s what makes it home.
things that make Greystones special.
ever will compare in my eyes. So in short, what do I miss…? Everything!
took 45 minutes to get a warm pint. Followed by more tomfoolery at Doyles’ house – Tilly sat in her blue kaftan watching Gone With The Wind whilst we partied late into the night, accompanied by Declan’s tunes.
stood outside with big hungover heads on us.
Ah, the memories of that town!
Louis O’Meara [2018]