Begin your Christmas season at Killoskehane Castle. For one day, the castle near Borrisoleigh, Co. Tipperary, opens two floors of rooms decorated for Christmas. They hold The Long Becoming, a set of life-story portraits by artist E Alana James. At Christmas the past often feels close. We remember people and places, gather new memories and look ahead to the year to come. These portraits share that spirit. Each one tells the story of an older person's life through their own photographs, historical imagery and bright colour. Their lives hold hardship and change, but also humour, friendship and the ability to begin again. As you move through the house you'll find: • A chapel showing how the portraits grew and changed over the year • Bedrooms and lounges, each holding someone's story • A hallway celebrating community in Irish life • A drawing room filled with the newest framed portraits • A dining room of photographs from the 1930s–1970s that you can pick up and arrange into your own story • Nora's story of farming life near Cork, in the kitchen at the heart of the home It's a visit for families and friends. Children can look for clues about where each person began, what changed and who helped along the way, then think about what they'd put in a picture of their own life.