The stories behind our Holly Bough reader pictures 

To say we were inundated with photographs for the 2025  Holly Bough picture gallery would be an understatement, to say the least.

Copies of the 2024 edition had barely hit the shelves when the first envelopes hit the Holly Bough desk, and the email began to ping with readers sharing pictures of themselves with their prized copies.

In fact, such was the volume of submissions that we increased the size of our picture gallery section, and we still couldn’t include all the photos we received.

Behind each and every photograph of course is a story. Some tell tales of adventures and travel to far-off places, some tell of milestones and memories, and many tell stories of family and belonging.

Chris Bowles sent us a picture of what just could be our youngest Holly Bough reader! The photo captures the moment that he sat down to read the Holly Bough with his daughter Abbie when she was just two weeks old.

Carmel Flynn sent us pictures of 15 friends on a somewhat delayed Leaving Cert holiday.

“We started junior infants in St Patrick’s School, Gardiners Hill in 1968, and left in 1981...we finally got to go on their Leaving Cert Holiday to Greece in May 2025. One class member even flew from New York. We’d love to make it into Holly Bough to complete what was a really great trip with friendships that were formed in 1968!” she said.

The class of ‘62 from Kanturk Girls Secondary School brought the Holly Bough to their annual reunion.

Another school-related picture came from Coláiste Éamann Rís in Cork city. Students from the school traveled all the way to Curacao as part of an Erasmus project, and introduced the students there to our Cork publication.

Claire Sheehan sent us a picture of her family in Bali and showed us how sometimes the world is a small place.

“My family spent Christmas in Bali last year with my sister, her adult children and their children. They had travelled from Sydney, Australia while we travelled from Glanmire. We met there to celebrate my sister’s 70th birthday”. Claire said they grew up with the Holly Bough at home and continue to read it.

The Holly Bough even made its way to the United Nations, 5th Forum on Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law. Esther Lennon from Glanworth shared a read of the 2024 issue with Oisín Redmond from Salthill in Galway, just before they spoke about their experiences working on the Children and Young People’s Assembly on Biodiversity Loss.

Helen Davey sent us a particularly poignant picture from Bristol. Twenty-one years ago, on her dad’s (Eddie O’Sullivan from Donoughmore) birthday, Helen decided to move to Bristol for six months “to see how I’d get on”. She met her now husband, Alex, soon after and ended up staying.

“Over the last few years, especially, my Dad would give me the Holly Bough to take back and grab a photo! And then he told me Bristol was on the hit list,” she said.

Helen’s dad was diagnosed with cancer in 2024 and passed away that year. “Home for New Year, there was the Holly Bough waiting for me. I wanted to do something special for his first birthday in heaven. So off we went on Easter Saturday, with my husband Alex, and our three children, Ciara, Jack, and Charlie and took the photo at the Bristol Suspension Bridge! Being able to focus on this ask from my Dad brought us joy on that day, and completing the puzzles with my kids was a comfort last Christmas,” said Helen.

While it might only be July, over the last few months, we've received dozens of pictures from Holly Bough readers with their prized copies of the 2025 edition. It's not too late to send in your pictures to us! You can send us your photographs by emailing hollybough@theecho.ie or through our website hollybough.ie.