It’s not every day you find yourself emailing Santa Claus and wondering if “Dear Santa” sounds too familiar. No, not that Santa Claus. I’m talking about the Santa Claus with the white beard who lives in North Pole. That’s North Pole, a town in Alaska.
It might delight you to hear that North Pole’s street lights look like giant candy canes. The post office is on South Santa Claus Lane – where else? – and the police station is on Snowman Lane. And of course it has a decorated Christmas tree all year-round. But back to its famous resident, a septuagenarian city councillor called Santa Claus.
He was born Thomas Patrick O’Connor but officially changed his name in 2005. With a name like that, we can definitely claim him as Irish. Not only that, but if family lore is to be believed, he comes from Irish royalty. He tells me, over email, that when he was growing up in New York he was told his father’s family came from Mayo and descended from the last high king of Ireland, Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (Rory O’Connor). “I’ve no idea whether or not that’s true,” he writes. If it’s not true, it does prove his Irish heritage, given our tendency to embellish the facts to make a good story. And just to underline his Irishness, his name change went through on the eve of St Patrick’s Day.
Thomas O’Connor wore many hats before he donned the red tasselled one. He was special assistant to the deputy police commissioner of New York City and a founding director of the Terrorism Research and Communications Center. He worked in public broadcasting and has been a monk in the Order of the Anam Cara for more than 20 years.
Councillor Claus of Alaska – Alison Healy on the other Santa
A rebate Christmas – Alison Healy on the surprising ways people spend their time on the big day
Name Shame – Frank McNally on the continuing tragedy of the forename “Kevin” and a bad night for “Shamrock” in London
Kiss of Death? – Frank McNally on the rise and fall of mistletoe
And the colour of his monk’s robe? Red, of course.
As a child welfare activist, he has volunteered with more than two dozen charities and helped to pass Erin’s Law which trains teachers to recognise signs of child abuse. When he was living in Nevada in 2004, he grew out his beard. People remarked that he looked like Santa Claus and he began making volunteer Santa appearances. But instead of asking children for their lists of demands, he blessed them and asked them to do something for someone else.
One day he was walking to the post office in the deep snow at Lake Tahoe and was praying, as monks tend to do. On this occasion he was seeking guidance on how to use his new appearance to help children. Then someone drove by and shouted: “I love you Santa”. He took that as a sign from God and legally changed his name. His new passport got more than one glance from the airport officials but, really, only a grinch could prevent Santa from flying. Then he went the whole hog and moved to North Pole, Alaska, more than 11 years ago.
His plan has worked. When he calls a legislator to lobby on a particular issue, they had better watch out and they’d better not pout. And I’ll tell you why. If he finds he is getting nowhere, the media does the job on his behalf, highlighting how Santa’s request to help children is being refused.
Naturally as soon as Santa Claus came to town, he threw himself into life in North Pole. As well as being a councillor, he has been mayor pro tem (meaning temporary) and chamber of commerce president, among other things.
He is also concerned with protecting the Alaskan environment from exploitation and is part of the executive committee of the Alaska Chapter of the Sierra Club, a 130-year-old grassroots environmental organisation. I found him on Bluesky, which became the social media site of choice for this Santa Claus after the trolls on Twitter/X became too toxic. Elves he can deal with, but trolls are on his naughty list. He sends out the sort of messages you would expect Santa to send, wishing people happiness and love.
Santa Claus ran for Congress in 2022 when the Alaskan incumbent Don Young died, and, refusing to solicit or accept campaign contributions, he still came in sixth out of 48 candidates. He even ran for the office of US president twice, in 2008 and 2012, in a bid to put child health, safety and welfare on the national stage. But despite the name recognition, his lack of campaign funds meant his message didn’t reach most Americans.
Nothing fazes this Santa though, and he is content to amble around North Pole, and promote the causes dear to him whenever he gets a chance. Just don’t blame him for kissing Mommy underneath the mistletoe last night. That was the other Santa.