FOR such a quiet and mild-mannered couple, it can seem incongruous that their home has become a 'must-see' and community award-winning destination at Christmas time.

The lights at the home of Willie and Diana O'Donovan of Hillside in Union Hall get switched on the first weekend in December, but getting to that point takes months of preparations.

To date the annual tradition has raised over €80,000 for various local charities – something that saw them recognised at the 2026 Mayor’s Community Awards at County Hall last week.

It was local school principal and Fine Gael Cllr Brendan McCarthy who nominated him for the award.

At the start of October, before Halloween, the unpacking, testing, and updating of the lighting scheme commences before the multi-coloured display is left on in all its glory for about six weeks.

Then, it is time to carefully take them all down and store them away for another year.

The Couple's 2025 Christmas lights display (Photo: Andrew Harris)

Willie's passion for this project started after Willie and his family, as well as his late brother, Donal and his family, visited relatives in Florida in December 1978 and saw how the American's do Christmas.

Enthused, both men purchased a rather large crib, which they wrapped in clothes and packed in boxes. Needless to say, the two families aroused suspicion at the airport.

The American security guard wanted to know why a group of four adults and five children were travelling with 18 suitcases and 18 boxes.

But after opening the first box and finding a statue of the Virgin Mary, he quickly waved them through.

The O'Donovan family had spent five weeks in Florida and returned home in January to a wet and windy West Cork.

But even in those dull days of winter, Willie was already planning an outdoor display for December 1979.

The couple, who are 52 years married, not only built their own home together, literally brick by brick, they also built a workshop with overhead accommodation.

They did it without the help of any bank, but Fuller's hardware store and Skibbereen Credit Union were 'brilliant' and saw them through. 

Again, it was as a unit, that Willie transitioned out of construction to establish Union Crafts with his wife at his side.

A Christmas experience, which it has to be said included live deer, was developed with the help of family members, friends and volunteers.

For years, it gave hundreds of children a wonderful opportunity to tell Santa their deepest wishes and parents often picked up a present or two as they waited nearby.

While all of this was happening, including the switch away from the Christmas grotto, the lighting display was growing at a pace. 

Yearly visits to the same relatives in Florida meant the couple had the pick of the latest lighting displays.

In recent years, all of these wonderful lighting displays, ornaments, and cribs, can be purchased in Ireland, including Hegarty's Lighting in Clonakilty. 

Diana said: ‘He doesn't drink or smoke. This is his joy: flowers in the summer and Christmas lights and decorations in the winter. He deserves that.’

Every year, grateful parents threw a few coins into collection boxes as a ‘thank you’ to the O'Donovan family for making the season special.

Over the last 25 years, except one year when Willie had triple heart bypass surgery, the show went on, including 2019 and 2020 when Willie had two hip replacements, and donations were made to charities.

Willie (77) is, according to Diana, 'semi-retired’, but the truth is there's no stopping either of them. They maintain that three hours of dancing every Sunday night helps.

Over the last 25 years, the couple have raised €80,000 for charities, including the €10,125 raised this year.

Going through her bookkeeping folder Diana lists them out: the multiple donations made to the Irish Heart Foundation, the children's ward in Cork University Hospital, Skibbereen Geriatric Society, Cancer Research, the purchase of a defibrillator, the Irish Motor Neuron Disease Association, Skibbereen Hospital, Cancer Connect, the Air Ambulance, St Vincent de Paul, and the West Cork Alzheimer’s Society, not to mention the many community projects in Union Hall that have drawn on their support.

Willie and Diane O'Donovan presented a cheque for €10,125 to Michelle O'Shea, Áine Minihan and Linder Shannon. (Photo: Andrew Harris)

What is often overlooked in all of this is that all of the lights and Christmas ornaments are paid for by Willie and Diana, and this year's €1,000 electricity bill will also be paid by them.

The couple love the fact that Áine Deasy of The Coffee Cup gives out free hot chocolate and treats to children, who gather for the switching on of the lights. 

They, as a couple, make a contribution so that parents can imbibe for free too. Is it any wonder that people frequently put a thank you card with a €50 charitable donation inside and slip it through the letterbox? 

Remarkably, the couple's passion project has inspired others in the village to go Christmas light crazy. 

This year's display was a big lighting extravaganza that even featured a parade, led by the Ballingeary Pipe Band and St Fachtna's Silver Band.

The street lights, and the lights festooned on 130 trees come on, section by section, as the parade passes through the village before coming to a stop at O'Donovan's for the switching on ceremony.

The community celebrated with them in 2014 when the couple and their family were invited to Dublin, where Willie was presented with the Volunteer Ireland Award in the Arts, Culture and Festival category in recognition of his exceptional volunteerism.