Cork boy finds Santa letter missing since 1960

Ms Foley's letter, which was sent up the chimney on November 1, 1960, asks Santa Claus for "a jar, a bottle for her dolly, a stick with a balloon on it and a Rolls Royce dinky and a game of Ludo."

A letter to Santa from 1960 has resurfaced once again, 15 years after it last appeared in the news.

When Yvonne Foley from Cork was a little girl, she wrote her letter to Santa with her father JC and mother Ann.

The Irish Examiner covered the story in 2005 when the letter was first discovered by builders renovating a house in the Western Road area of the city when they were ripping out a chimney.

Ger O'Brien and his work-mate Kevin Gregan were the builders on the day and speaking to Cork's 96FM Opinion Line, Mr O'Brien said the find was "absolutely fantastic" and mentioned the difference between "what that little girl was looking for back in 1960, as opposed to what kids are getting today."

Ms Foley's letter, which was sent up the chimney on November 1, 1960, asks Santa Claus for "a jar, a bottle for her dolly, a stick with a balloon on it and a Rolls Royce dinky and a game of Ludo."

In a 2005 interview with the Irish Examiner's Eoin Edwards, Ms Foley explained that she wanted the jar "for my marbles, or glassy-alleys as we call them in Cork, the doll was no Barbie Doll but a plump one with curly hair, I wanted the Rolls Royce dinky for myself because my brothers...never let me play with theirs."

Now, 15 years later, the letter has resurfaced in the hands of a little boy called Ryan, the grandson of one of the builders, Mr Deegan.

Ryan discovered the letter in the diary of his late grandfather and brought it into school to show his principal Norma Whelton of Glandore National School.

"He found it in his grandad's diary and he brought it into school," said Ms Whelton.

"Ryan is a very quiet kid, but he's a bit of a charmer... and he said to me, I have something to show you, I found this in grandad's diary.

"The letter then came into the office and we looked at it, and I knew then it was something historical and of significance."

Ms Whelton was able to track down Yvonne Foley through social media.

Ryan's grandmother Marie Gregan said she remembers the letter going missing after her husband passed away, but Ryan found it in one of his work diaries.

"I just said to him let's read it and he said 'what's a dinky'," she said.

"So he was fascinated...and he just took it in [to school] and it just took off from there."

Ms Foley thanked Ryan for finding her letter and said he did the right thing by bringing the letter to school.

"Your grandfather would be so delighted that you found me."

Ms Foley is hoping to be reunited with the letter when restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic allow.

Christmas truly is a magical season.

To listen to the full interview [url=https://play.acast.com/s/corks-96-fm-opinion-line/podcastextra-santaletterfrom60s-abitofradiomagic]click here[/url].