The Times We Lived In: Look out, tooth fairy about

SOME pictures are just, well, bloomin' marvellous. Such as this image taken at Scoil Naithí, Ballinteer, Co Dublin, during rehearsals for a production – we are told – of Aonghus Agus Fáinne An Fhathaigh.

As the season of the school Nativity play approaches, we defy anyone to look at this bunch of smiley, flowery heads and not smile right back. And yes, we know there shouldn’t be flowers in

Nativity plays – but a rapid-fire survey of proud parents assures us that rabbits, mermaids and even space aliens turn up on these occasions on a regular basis.

The children are, from left (top): Meabh Ní Ghorrain, Dariona Ní Mhuirí and Dina Ní Riain and (below) Lisa Nic Gionnaith, Niamh Denmead and Niamh Ní Ghiarnan.

The caption doesn’t tell us what the play was about. Let’s have a guess. Aonghus is a reluctant but courageous, and actually – in the end – fearless hero who sets off to confront a gang of giants in order to retrieve a magic ring.

What role did this uber-cute chorus of young actors dressed as sunflowers play?

A subplot to do with the mystery of the missing teeth, perhaps. But what the tiny thespians lack in the way of choppers, they more than compensate for with dimples, dynamism and the sheer delight of life. Each of the half-dozen faces wears its own variation on the theme of happiness. Even Niamh Denmead, trying to keep a straight face in the middle of the front row, has a Mona Lisa smile and a twinkle in her eye. Look, enjoy, and – for a few minutes, at least – live happily ever after.

Arminta Wallace

These and other Irish Times images can be purchased from: irishtimes.com/photosales

A new book, The Times We Lived In, with more than 100 photographs and commentary by Arminta Wallace, published by Irish Times Books, is in bookshops now, priced €19.99.