At the arrivals lounge in Dublin Airport, Declan Carroll waits anxiously for his wife Orla as she makes the long journey from the tarmac, through customs clearance and out to Terminal 2.
It’s a well-trodden route for many of us, but those final few tentative minutes of waiting for Declan- with nieces Emma and Lucy in tow- pale in comparison to the circuitous journey he and his wife have had to endure to come home for the holidays.
"I came in on Saturday morning, and Orla comes in this morning. We've been in Savannah, Georgia for about three and a half years.
We like it over there, but we come home to visit family every year,” says Declan, as he tries to contend with frantic energy of his elf-attired companions following an hour-long delay.
It may only have been three days since they parted company, but both Declan and Orla are duly enveloped by the emotion of the occasion as she walks through the gate, and stoops below the safety barrier to embrace her ecstatic younger family members.
“We have a Frozen singalong to go to now,” says Orla, who can’t expect much respite despite an exhausting journey.
Unsurprisingly, the Carrolls' joyful homecoming is an oft-repeated spectacle around these parts during December. The Dublin Airport Authority expects over three quarters of a million people to pass through the airport between December 19th and January 2nd .
Given the obvious cultural links between Ireland and America- some 35 million US citizens are of Irish descent, not to mention the 30,000 who've left these shores to seek better fortunes in America since 2008- there's a palpable sense of excitement and expectation as the early morning flights from New York, Chicago and Philadelphia touch down.
Flora O’Connor was lucky to avoid the tortuous delays that many have to endure at this time of year. But despite her early arrival from Chicago, the wider O’Connor clan still had all the bunting and banners unfurled well in advance of her anticipated homecoming.
“My mother brought us here for Christmas as a surprise, and my husband’s on his way on another flight. We can’t believe they’re all here, we didn’t know the Mallow crowd were coming down as well so we’re very excited,” says Flora, still trying to absorb her rapturous reception.
“It’s been eight years since I’ve been home. We’re very excited, we’re going to party like it’s 1999!”
Over in Terminal 1, André Hillebrand and his assembled antler-clad relatives eagerly await the return of brother Francois to Ireland for only the second time in 14 years.
"My brother was supposed to come visit for the holiday but he was held back from South Africa because of work commitments, so the whole family went up to get him," says André, who is now based in Dublin.
“It’s midsummer in South Africa now, so the weather is completely different over here. It’s a more authentic Christmas for him being here,” he adds, following a long-overdue familial embrace.
Back in T2, New Yorker Paul Purcell is engaging in a now-annual tradition of returning to his ancestral homeland to enjoy the holidays with extended family.
“I’m visiting my sister and my nieces. There’s also a nephew but he’s at rugby practice. It’s five years running now, we come home every Christmas. Our parents passed away five years ago, so the new tradition is now we come here,” says Paul, who’s looking forward to a Christmas Eve gathering complete with his 15 or so cousins, among plenty of other family and friends.