Catherine Fulvio

Chef and proprietor, Ballyknocken House & Cookery School, Wicklow

The best present I received for Christmas? Subbuteo – a table soccer game where you flick the player at the ball and work your way towards the goal. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t receive this toy myself. Santa brought it for my older brother, but I had toy envy and loved playing it when he wasn’t around. The best toy Santa brought me was a child’s sewing machine. I spent many long evenings glamming up my jeans, making cool handbags and upcycling old clothes. As a teen, I thought of myself as a queen of the needle and thread in my home.

Gerry Daly

Gardening expert

Aged eight, my favourite childhood present was a concertina – a child’s version, not the real thing. I got up in the dark to see what Santa Claus had brought and, in the half-light, I first thought it was the front of a toy lorry. Then I realised what it was and I was delighted. In the following weeks, I tried to play it, but then a mouse ate a hole in the expanding paper side and, despite repair attempts with paper and glue, it never really worked again. That brought my nascent musical career to a close.

Edward Hayden

TV chef, Ireland AM

My parents were great believers in building memories and now as adults my brother, sisters and I have a bank of wonderful memories from a very happy childhood.

Christmas was always a great time and involved weeks of preparation in terms of cooking, baking etc. When it comes to my favourite toy, there are a couple of Christmas stories that come to mind. One particular year I wanted a shiatsu dog for Christmas, but when it arrived it was of the stuffed variety. My mother says she can still remember the look of disappointment on my face.

Another year I received a bright yellow lorry that left marks on all the floors in the house. Possibly my most favoured Christmas gift was a massive blackboard I received when I was about eight or nine and it hung in our kitchen for years. I spent many happy hours teaching my imaginary students.

Derek Ryan

Country music singer

One of my favourite toys was a drum kit. It’s one of my earliest Christmas memories, waking up to the kit all set up in the sitting room. I’ll never forget the excitement. I was maybe three or four years old at the time. It kept me occupied for hours on end. It must have been a noisy Christmas for the rest of my family. Ten years on I saved and bought a proper kit and later went on to win the All-Ireland minor title in céilí drumming, so I had plenty of practice done by then. It played a big part in my interest in music. CL