Casa Christmas lights up for charity
Homes around Cork city and county are getting into the Christmas spirit with dazzling displays, but one man in Ballinhassig has taken it a step further by orchestrating an epic light and music show that’s guaranteed to spark joy, even in the hearts of festive grinches.
Justin Nagle has turned his home into ‘Casa Christmas’ complete with a spectacular light display for all to enjoy while raising funds for the Jack and Jill Foundation.
“We’ve always put Christmas lights on the house, but in 2019 I wanted to do something different,” he told the Cork Independent.
“Firstly we just had LED lights that change colour. But in 2020 I decided to try to sequence them to music. I did and they were a huge hit, it’s just become bigger since then. This will be my third year doing it for charity,” he added.
The company Justin works for chooses a charity partner, which in 2021, was Laura Lynn. He decided to set up a charity box outside his gate to help with donations, and it turned out to be a huge success. “I got over €1,000, and I thought that was great, so since then I’ve picked children’s charities to support. We’ve had Laura Lynn, Bumbleance and this year it is the Jack and Jill foundation.”
Justin says that visitors to Casa Christmas have been consistently generous with their donations. “Last year we raised €1,400 in total, but this year we have already raised €1,400 - between gate and online donations, it’s really taken off,” he said.
The process of setting up a display for Casa Christmas isn’t an easy task with months of preparation involved in getting it right just in time for the festive season.
“I took a week off work in November just to put the physical lights up. For sequencing the lights and getting the music to match up with them, there’s probably 40 or 50 hours per song. From August onward, I’m listening to Christmas music for three or four hours every night, trying to match up the lights to the beat of the music,” he says.
Even with all the work involved, it’s a labour of love for Justin, which puts his many talents to good use. “I used to be an electrician, so it’s combining all my knowledge and my love of Christmas.”
With a whopping 5,047 individual lights on display, one might assume that his electricity bills would be astronomical. However, he says that they are surprisingly manageable.
“The electricity bill isn’t too bad because they are LED and 12 volts so they are quite efficient. But we do notice a jump around this time of year,” he says.
Justin says that the show is drawing a fantastic crowd, with many people turning up to witness the magic.
“There’s a great reaction and there’s always people there, sometimes it’s hard to get in and out of my own house!”
For those interested in seeing the ‘Casa Christmas’ show, it starts at 4.30pm every day and runs until midnight during the week and until 1am at the weekends, the Eircode is T12 F72P.
If you’d like to donate, the fundraising page is idonate.ie/fundraiser/casachristmas