Caroline Morahan plans to return home for Christmas after celebrating Thanksgiving in America.
The television presenter and actress moved to California in 2009 with her husband Dáithí and they have welcomed their two children, Rowan and Ava, there.
While they have embraced having Irish-American kids, they also love marking special Irish traditions with them too.
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Caroline explained that they always fly back to Ireland every year around the holidays in order to spend time with family.
She told RSVP Live: “We are going home to Ireland which is lovely. We’ll be having a nice break with the family.
“Then I’m shooting a film in the west of Ireland immediately after Christmas. It was something that was originally slated for spring of last year. It got pushed. I didn’t know if it was going to happen and it is, so I’m delighted.”
As is customary when Irish people have family in America, Caroline jams her suitcases to the gill with treats and presents.
She said: “There’s a local supermarket where I live and when my family visits they love going to it.
“Our grocery store Trader Joes do all sorts of gorgeous little things that only come out for a few weeks and then they disappear like truffle hot sauce - that’s always in high demand from my family. There’s yuzu sauce that everyone loves too.
“Dunnes is incredible and you’ll find so many cool things there, but there’s the thrill of someone arriving home with a hamper of stuff.”
She continued: “We’re travelling for less time this year at Christmas than normal so the baggage won’t be as heavy as it usually would. However, there have been times when I’ve been travelling back home and I’ve forgotten to pack clothes because it’s all stuff that I’ve seen and want to give to the family.
“There’s a store here called Costco that is a wholesale warehouse. I went in there one year and there was an entire box of pro tennis balls. My nieces and nephew were heavily into tennis at the time so I bought the whole thing - it was three quarters of my suitcase.”
Christmas isn’t the only big holiday in the States around this time of year, with people also marking Thanksgiving in November - which Caroline and her family have adopted since moving there.
“I love all celebrations,” she shared. “We typically go to the snow for Thanksgiving. There’s a beautiful mountain not far from us called Big Bear. That’s where we went last year.
“Because there are so many religions in America, Christmas isn’t as big of a deal here as it is in Ireland. But everyone stops for Thanksgiving. Everything grids to a halt as far as I can see.
“This year we celebrated with family friends of ours and we’re going to Laurel Canyon.”
While they have embraced the American traditions, Caroline and her children also love Irish traditions around the holidays - like watching the Late Late Toy Show.
She shared: “One year when we were in Big Bear with two families who had Irish parents, we all went to a gorgeous house that was like Home Alone.
“There was snow all around and we were in matching pyjamas - it was absolutely ridiculous,” she joked.
English (US) ·