Monaghan's the Santa of attention

A new Christmas experience at The Riverbank works its magic on ROHAN SMYTH and his family

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T'S beginning to look a lot like Christmas - the lyrics from that classic festive hit started up in my head as soon as we pulled into The Riverbank, a country pub and restaurant in Co Monaghan. My family and I had travelled up from Co Meath to check out the launch of the venue's new Christmas experience, Santa At The Riverbank.

Located in Killanny, which is just at the Monaghan/Louth border, we were driving down a remote road as the evening grew ever darker when all of a sudden we spied these twinkling lights up ahead.

As we parked we were able to see that The Riverbank was completely festooned with Christmas lights and decorations, and this perfectly set the scene for a truly magical experience.

My children are aged 8 and 11 now so we have been to quite a few Santa experiences over the years - but this one definitely stands out from the rest, all the more impressive considering it was making its festive debut!

From the moment we were ushered in, the attention to detail is something that really helps to set Santa At The Riverbank apart, with it very clear that a huge amount of care went into every part of the journey.