We sat down with Irish comedian and podcaster Jarlath Regan to speak about coming home for the holidays, creating Christmas traditions and finding balance. You can watch the interview in full above.
"I am a huge Christmas fan. I am Christmas crazy and one thing that I've learned from being abroad is that nobody does Christmas like the Irish," says Jarlath.
The comedian has had plenty of time to ponder the holidays as he has spent the past few years designing a unique range of Christmas cards. Buyer be warned - these aren't your usual season's greetings.
Based in London with his wife and son, Jarlath says that coming home to Ireland for Christmas is the highlight of his year.
"The Christmas that I look forward to is the gathering and the food and just being together and sharing it and it going on so long - no other country celebrates this long - it's nearly a quarter of the year. I know other people find that tiring but to me, I just love that coming together in Christmas in Ireland."
Like many Irishmen abroad, coming home for Christmas has led to a very specific tradition - hoping in the car to see the most amount of people in the shortest amount of time.
"The number one Christmas tradition, at this point, is driving from house to house, trying to see everybody so we're basically in the car the whole time touring."
However, with a young son in tow, Jarlath and his wife Tina have realised the importance of creating Christmas traditions within their family.
Now, besides bopping about at the Regan Christmas Eve party ("now the stuff of legend") and playing football on Dollymount, the couple are creating some child-friendly activities.
"When you've got a little boy and you've started your own family, I think you suddenly become conscious that traditions are created and you can begin your own so there's been an engineering of new traditions in the Regan house - this year specifically - and I have to say, it's proper joyful.
The stand-up comedian is bringing his new show Organ Freeman to Vicar Street this January where he will discuss the topic of organ donation, a topic that the 37-year-old is well acquainted with since donating a kidney to his older brother last February.
This is no small feat considering he is also running his full-time podcast, An Irishman Abroad, with weekly interviews with guests ranging from Pat Kenny to Louise O'Neill. So, how does Jarlath balance it all?
"Believe it or not I'm going to quote Joe Brolly now, Joe is someone I really want to interview because he said the other day that, after his experience of donating a kidney, he realised that life is not the future, it's not what you're going to get, it's not the things you have, it's where you are right now and I do think that most of us nowadays are really out of practice at being present"
Jarlath Regan will bring Organ Freeman to Vicar Street on Friday, January 12th, 2018. Tickets are on sale now.
