The journey home, a new arrival, a big surprise, the year of the burnt turkey or the times the cat got stuck in the tree… Christmas plays different movies in all our minds, so we asked some people for their favourites. They're all different, but they all capture the fun and magic of that very special day. We also want to hear about your Christmas memories - you can post them on the form at the end of the page.
Cormac Battle, RTÉ 2fm presenter
My favourite Christmas memory is when my mum and dad presented me with a Selection Box of Curly Wurlys and said I was lucky to get it - this being the Eighties. Although I have a sweet tooth, I was most disappointed. But around two o'clock in the day they presented me with a Phillips G7000 computer games console; it had one game and I was beyond delighted. It kept me occupied for months and, uniquely, nobody else had one so I couldn't swap games with my friends. It is an ecstatic memory but I'm glad I didn't put my millions into shares in this. Instead, I put my £42.27 into shares in the gambling site Anglo Irish Bank Poker.com and I've never looked back since. Capitalism, you got to love it.
Diana Bunici, 'elev8' presenter
My favourite Christmas memories (because I can't pick just one) are from Moldova. The winters were always bitterly cold and snowy, and quite often there were power cuts. I loved those evenings in particular, as we used to visit my grandmother's house where we would sit in the candlelight chatting and eating pampushki, which is homemade bread dipped in an oil and garlic sauce. And then there were the times my aunty would dress up as Santa which always left me confused: no matter how much she tried she always sounded too high-pitched to pass as a jolly old man!
Bernard Clarke, Presenter of 'Nova' on RTÉ lyric fm
It was later on Christmas Day and many beers had passed when I finally got to play an LP my dad had bought me: Stravinsky's 'Petrushka'. It was riveting lying there, full of lovely food and too much pudding, senses swimming awry, lying, hearing soaring, thundering - under the Christmas tree.
Ronan Collins, RTÉ Radio One presenter
My favourite Christmas memory is getting a particular present. My 'rich' uncle Justin gave me Lego. I seem to recall the box was huge, and of course I got years of enjoyment from it. To this day I enjoy looking at Lego, and sure maybe this Christmas… You never know!
Jason Derulo, Singer
My favourite memory of Christmas? Let's see... That would be the year when my niece started walking for the first time. She started to walk on Christmas Eve. It was amazing to see her walking to the Christmas gifts. It was awesome.
Gemma Doorly, 'Fair City' actress
When I was very small I was a big Torvill and Dean fan. I didn't get ice skates, but I got a pair of roller skates from Santy. I went straight out on the road Christmas morning; I think I even went to mass in them. I was obsessed with them - I had to go everywhere in the roller skates. They took ages to lace up because they went up to my shins, so it was a 20-minute ordeal for one parent to lace them up and then they had to be laced off again. I lived in them!
Anne Doyle, Presenter of Nine O'Clock News on RTÉ One
My favourite memory from Christmas time? Hmmm... That would have to be the ducks that we didn't eat for our dinner! The ducks shared our yummy stew and they died happily of old age. And I am hoping to do the same!
Myles Dungan, 'The History Show' presenter
I have a distinct and simultaneously fuzzy memory of a time when I was a small child, certainly less than eight-years-old, and my brother and sister took me and my little sister into the snow-covered back garden of our house. I presume it was in Kells, Co Meath, though that's another fuzzy bit. There they did something I thought was magical at the time. They made a small snowball and began rolling it down the lawn. I was amazed to see the snowball get bigger and bigger as it moved. Before we got to the bottom of a modest garden it was bigger than me and I remember having to put my shoulder to it to push it any further.
Jenny Greene, RTÉ 2fm presenter
I'm not sure if I would consider it a favourite Christmas memory, but it's one that my sister still brings up to this day. When we were very young my older sister got a Barbie styling head. I'm led to believe this was the must-have toy of the year, which meant Santa had quite a battle on his hands to get one. Anyway, my poor sister Nikki only had it a few hours when I coloured the entire face in with red lipstick. We never found out what was in the lipstick but needless to say it never came off. It is still in my parents' attic; they found it a few months ago when they were looking for something. She has been a very good girl this year so perhaps I'll give it a makeover and give it back to her?
Sinéad Kennedy, 'TwoTube' presenter
My favourite Christmas memory? It's hard to break it down to just the one! I guess if it came to it I would have to say going downstairs at the crack of dawn in my little pink onsie to find exactly what I'd asked Santa for: the ultimate prezzie, a Popple! Anybody remember them?
Jim Lockhart, RTÉ Radio producer and Horslips flautist
Apart from the usual hazy golden memories of helping my mother with the Christmas pudding or waking up to find an incredible surprise or silently making midnight preparations when our own children were small...
There was one year Horslips were touring in southern Germany shortly before Christmas, and it had snowed heavily. We drove through crisp fairytale landscapes and arrived as darkness fell into one of those small medieval German towns to find the locals out in force, waiting expectantly with their children. The town brass band played by torchlight in the square, with more good humour than polish. And then to gasps of excitement Father Christmas arrived on a cart pulled by four jangling horses, while his helpers dispensed gifts from their sacks to the waiting children.
It was soon over, but it seemed such a throwback to an earlier tradition, before commerciality bit, and the kids' eyes glowed with such innocent enjoyment that we felt uplifted and privileged to have been a fleeting part of it.
Michael Lyster, 'The Sunday Game' presenter
On Christmas Eve my mother would prepare this fine big side of ham and put it in a giant pot to slow cook. Then later we'd head off to the Christmas mass in the local church in Killererin (Co Galway), always a lovely, peaceful occasion; although I do recall one local character arriving into the church one night with a gin and tonic under his jacket - and clearly a few more inside him!
Anyway, by the time we'd get back to the house the ham would be perfectly cooked and, still warm, my mother would cut off several slices and make sandwiches with plenty of mustard or perhaps cranberry sauce.
My father would produce a few bottles of beer and we'd all sit there, eating our sandwiches, sipping a couple of glasses and reflecting on the year that had been.
I eventually left the West and in time that little tradition came to an end. My parents have since passed away but at this time of year I think about those days and all the fond memories. I'm glad to say that Christmas in our house now is also a wonderful and happy time of the year - but those ham sandwiches won't be surpassed!
Ivan Minnock, 'elev8' presenter
When I was about eight years of age, I was really sick on Christmas Day. To make me feel better my brother got me this Monster Bouncy Ball, which I thought was brilliant, AND Santa left me a note on Christmas Morning, saying that he hoped I would get better soon.
Con Murphy, 'MNS' and 'Crimecall' presenter
My enduring memory of Christmas is one of my uncle Jim, who worked for the airline TWA, returning to Ireland from New York every year and playing poker with us kids in the days around Christmas Day itself. I still have a picture in my mind's eye of all of us sitting around on Christmas Night playing poker in silly paper hats with Johnny Mathis singing 'When a Child is Born' in the background. Jim taught us well, and my fascination with Draw, Stud, and Hold 'Em has endured ever since.
Cathal Murray, 'The Sunday Rise' presenter
On Christmas Day 1990 I got two very special presents. The first was a Hitachi double cassette deck player with high-speed dubbing and 'bass booster'. The second was five tapes: 'The Best of Leonard Cohen', 'The Best of Lou Reed', 'Harvest' and 'After the Goldrush' by Neil Young and 'Rubber Soul' by the Beatles.
Every time I hear the opening riff to The Beatles' 'Drive My Car' I'm instantly taken back to the thrill of that Christmas. I was 14 and life would never be the same again - INXS and Bon Jovi were history! When I think about it, those presents are probably the reason I'm working in RTÉ Radio.
Join Cathal Murray on Christmas Morning on RTÉ Radio 1 from 6am for 'Cathal Murray's Christmas' with guests comedian Des Bishop, his dad Mike and Colm O'Regan.
Olly Murs, Singer
My favourite Christmas memory? I think it was when one year I had the whole of my family staying over in my house - we've only got a three-bedroom house. We had double beds and my granddad and my uncle stayed in our beds. We had cushions on the floor and we put a mattress on the floor so me and my brother stayed in there and my nan stayed in my mum's room with my mum. My dad slept on the couch, my sister had my auntie in her room… So we had the whole family there for Christmas Day, which was just immense. So that was probably the best Christmas for me because when you're a kid you always have to wait to open your presents but that one Christmas everyone was there so I didn't have to wait, so I just ran downstairs - presents, presents, presents, presents! That was probably my best moment.
Emma O'Driscoll, 'hubble' presenter
One of the best presents I ever got was when Santa brought the family our first computer - a Commodore 64. We had to load up our games from a tape deck and there were killings over whose turn it was to play. The fights were so bad the following Christmas Santa brought us a second one to restore peace to the household.
Damien O'Reilly, 'CountryWide' presenter
One of my earliest memories is a Christmas party in Junior Infants in 1977. Our teacher asked us to bring in a record. I ran home and rang my dad who was working in the city. I told him to buy me a record. He went to Golden Discs and bought me 'Mull of Kintyre' by Wings. It must have been a hit that year. The next day, delighted with myself, I jumped out of the car with my schoolbag in one hand and my vinyl record in the other. I was so excited at having this record to bring into my teacher that as I ran to the classroom, I slipped on the ice. The record flew out of its sleeve, scratched along the ice and ended up in a puddle! It was such a distressing incident that it has stuck with me to this day!
Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd, McFly guitarist and drummer
Dougie: I got Scalectrix once for Christmas. I watched that on video actually the other night; me getting Scalectrix. I played with it for about 30 seconds and it broke.
Harry: So not a great Christmas memory?
Dougie: It started off good.
Harry: For some reason, I'm really struggling and I have thoroughly enjoyed most of my Christmases, but I'm struggling to have a good memory! I mean, just being with family - just spending time with my mum, dad, brother and sister and grandparents. Honestly, I think that's all I can remember... And getting a new Playstation!
Seán Regan, 'elev8' presenter
An interesting Christmas memory I have is from 2004. My brother was living in London at the time and the plan was that he would drive over to spend Christmas with us in Sligo! He arrived over on the ferry on 24 December. I decided to go down to Dublin on the 24th to do some Christmas shopping with him and then drive back home to Sligo with him on Christmas Day. We stayed in a hotel that night and when we woke up it was completely white outside; a White Christmas. It was amazing, but it meant that the roads were impassable. We ended up having to spend Christmas in the hotel. That was a very memorable Christmas! It was the first time I had ever spent Christmas away from home!
Ruth Scott, RTÉ 2fm presenter
I remember very clearly being a small kid, about seven or eight-years-old. It was Christmas Eve and there was snow on the ground. All my little friends and I were full of excitement at the prospect of the arrival of Santy that night and were probably trying to be on our best behaviour in case we might not be on the list that he was checking twice! I remember clearly standing outside on the street and looking across the road and up onto the roof which was sprinkled in smooth, white snow. One of my friends was holding court and telling us that last year, her brothers and sisters saw the footprints and reindeer prints in the snow on the roof. I will never forget the sheer excitement and wonder when we all turned to gaze up at the smooth roof. Whether or not any prints appeared overnight, we didn't care. On Christmas Day, Santy had found his way down the chimney and left us the presents. We knew he would. He'd left his footprints last year!
Pat Shortt, Actor
My all time favourite memory from Christmas is waking up as a child to see the presents at the bottom of the bed! In addition to this, our Christmas stockings were always hung up for us by the fire, and the excitement of seeing what was in them was the highlight of the year!
Lillian Smith, 'Late Date' Presenter
I have many, many happy memories of childhood Christmases. 'Girls' World' was a big hit one year. And my mother loves Christmas so there was always an unexpected surprise. But last year was my favourite. My son Cash was three-and-a-half and really knew for the first time what was happening. He woke up and found his Christmas stocking and came to wake us. He was so excited he was shaking and told us Santa was here. Once he saw the tractor and combine harvester toys Santa had left under the tree he was transformed. It's a cliché I know, but that's the magic of Christmas in the face of a child. I hope I can give Cash the same magic Christmas memories my parents, and Santa, gave us growing up.
Dermot Ward and Stephen Byrne, 'The Rumour Room' presenters
Dermot: The first movie I ever saw in the cinema was 'Santa Claus' (1985), starring Dudley Moore and John Lithgow.
Stephen: For about three years in a row 'King Kong' was on RTÉ at about 5am. I used to watch it before everyone else in the house woke up and I could go downstairs to see if Santa came. It became a Christmas tradition for me.
Shayne Ward, Singer
Favourite Christmas memory? I have so many! I'll tell you one of the worst I had. It was actually last Christmas, bless, because I decided to buy myself a Santa Claus outfit off the Internet, and it was a legit company and all that, and it came and let's just say I was in bed ill because I think I had an allergic reaction to it, so Shayne can't play Santa. Unfortunately!
Mary Wilson, 'Drivetime' presenter
I was 12 and an avid reader when my Uncle Paddy gave me a gift of my first hardback book. It was big with a glossy cover featuring an underfed, pale young girl in a rough serge grey dress against a moorland backdrop. It was Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane Eyre'. I loved it and even though the glossy cover has long since disappeared and Paddy has been dead for many years, I still have that copy of the Bronte classic. A treasured memory.
What are the Christmas memories that stand out for you? Tell us below.
