TWO schoolboys have dozens of reasons to celebrate their birthdays this week.

It’s fair to say that Harry Redrup and Fionnan O’Mahony are both members of an exclusive club – because both youngsters have turned 12 on the 12th day of the 12th month of 2012.

As fate would have it, Tarporley High School pupil Harry, from Kelsall, arrived in the world 59 minutes after 12.00 but his mum Sally Moxham thinks her son is still rather special.

“I heard something on the radio last year about someone celebrating their birthday on November 11, 2011, and it occurred to me that this year Harry will have a special birthday of his own so I’ve been making a bit of a fuss about it,” she said.

“It is really unusual because this will never again happen in his lifetime, which makes it really special.”

“Harry will be marking his birthday with a fun go-karting trip to Sandycroft with his friends this weekend.”

Meanwhile, Fionnan, a student at Bishop Heber High School in Malpas, has celebrated his special day with a meal at Nando’s and a trip to the cinema with friends.

His mum Julia said: “His granny Dolly will be sending over a copy of the Evening Echo from Cork dated 12/12/2012 to mark the day.

“To be honest, the significance of the date had kind of passed me by until my husband mentioned how special it was about two weeks ago!

“In our family Christmas does not officially start until after Fionnan’s birthday, which is a tradition.”

A rough estimate based on birth figures for December 2000 says about 1,500 children were born in England and Wales on the same day as Harry and Fionnan.

So while their birthdays might not be totally unique to them, the date phenomenon will not now be repeated until the next century – on January 1, 2101 (01/01/01).