Some much-needed festive cheer has been brought to a Cork primary school this Christmas thanks to the kindness of a Leaving Cert student. 

Ellen Carroll, who grew up in Dublin but moved to Cork last year, surprised the children at Goggins Hill National School in Ballinhassig when she arrived on horseback with a few of her friends - horses and riders alike decked out in festive finery.

Speaking to The Echo ahead of the visit, Ellen said the idea came to her when watching The Late Late Toy Show back in November. 

"It was actually while I was watching The Late Late Toy Show and I was thinking about the fact that, growing up I always got to have a school Santa visit and Christmas is my favourite season so it was really nice for me growing up.

"One of the people who owns one of the horses in our yard is actually a primary school teacher and she had been talking about how they couldn’t do the Santa visit this year.

"There’s a primary school that I actually ride past while out hacking on the roads most days so I decided to send them an email because I get my horses dressed up for Christmas anyway – it’s just a bit of fun around the yard – so I just decided that I’d try to arrange with them for myself and a few of my friends to just ride past with our horses completely decked out for Christmas," she said. 

Ellen's horse, Blue, along with the other horses were dressed up as reindeer to put a smile on the children's faces. 

"I know when I was younger I would have absolutely adored seeing horses dressed up as reindeer. 

"I’m just hoping for the same reaction from the kids that are there!"