Late Late Toy Show Best Moments: Adam King, Sheamie And Michael Meets Davy Fitz

The Late Late Toy Show: quick facts

What it is: a special Christmas edition of RTÉ’s Late Late Show, where children demo the year’s toys, perform and tell their stories.
Since: 1975.
Hosts: Gay Byrne (1975 to 1998), Pat Kenny (1999 to 2008), Ryan Tubridy (2009 to 2022) and Patrick Kielty (since 2023).
Audience: usually the most-watched programme of the year in Ireland. In 2025 it averaged 1.7 million TV viewers, with streams from 137 countries and more than 36 million video views on social media.

If you’re not Irish, the Late Late Toy Show is hard to explain. It’s a TV programme where children show off toys. But every year, on a Friday night in late November or early December, most of the country sits down in its new pyjamas to watch it, and every year a few of those children steal the hearts of the whole nation and, these days, the internet.

Here are three of the most magical Toy Show moments of all time.

1. Michael meets Davy Fitz (2018)

Michael O’Brien, an 11-year-old from Killarney who is visually impaired, came on the 2018 show to review a book. He had no idea his sporting hero, the hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald, was waiting to walk out and meet him.

Michael’s reaction is pure joy, and Davy, famously one of the most intense men in the GAA, was clearly moved too. He invited Michael to join him on the sideline for three league games and to give his players a team talk. And he kept his promise: in February 2019, Michael gave the Wexford hurlers a pep talk in the dressing room before a thrilling win over Tipperary. More than 1.5 million viewers watched the moment on the night.

2. Adam King and the hug for everyone (2020)

The 2020 Toy Show came in the middle of the pandemic, when families couldn’t hug their grandparents and hospitals were off limits. Then six-year-old Adam King from east Cork appeared.

Adam has osteogenesis imperfecta, a condition that makes his bones fragile. He told Ryan Tubridy he dreamed of working for NASA, and explained that even if he couldn’t be an astronaut, he could be part of the team on the ground. Then he got two surprises: a visit from John Doyle, who he called “the nicest hospital porter in Ireland” from his stays at Temple Street Children’s Hospital, and a video message from the astronaut Chris Hadfield.

But the moment people remember most is Adam’s “virtual hug”. Because nobody could hug that year, he held up a drawing of a heart and sent a hug to everyone watching. The whole country melted. An Post later turned his virtual hug into a special Christmas postmark, and Adam has since raised more than €250,000 for Temple Street and Cork University Maternity Hospital.

3. Sheamie charms Patrick Kielty (2023)

Patrick Kielty’s first Toy Show as host was a big night, and seven-year-old Sheamie Garrihy from Kilfenora, Co. Clare, made sure it was a memorable one. He came on to demo his Lego and immediately put the new host at ease, pointing out that they had something in common: it was both their first Toy Show.

With his very grown-up way of talking and his deadpan wit, Sheamie became an instant star. “Sheamie for Taoiseach” was trending before the night was out, and he has been stopped for autographs ever since.

Why the Toy Show matters so much

The Toy Show is part of Irish Christmas in the same way as the Late Late Show itself has been part of Irish life for over 60 years. It started in 1975 as a short slot at the end of the Late Late Show, giving parents a few gift ideas while the children were asleep. Over the decades it grew into a full show watched by the children themselves, with a theme every year, a big opening number and the host in a Christmas jumper.

What makes it special isn’t the toys. It’s the children: their honesty, their courage, their comic timing and their stories. The show regularly raises money for children’s charities, and the moments that go viral are almost always the ones where a child reminds the adults watching what really matters.