Ireland | Maggie O''Donnell

Okay, start at the beginning. My father has Irish heritage. My mom took a trip to Ireland - a very short trip - and when she saw Ireland, she was like, "I've got to take my husband here because he will be amazed to see all his relatives." They went back a little while later and drove all around Ireland. They stopped on part of a road that they thought was beautiful, near a beach, and there was a little bed-and-breakfast in this little village, Killybegs. They ended up renting a house and getting us children over there. They got to know the woman - whom I know to this day - who owned that house. They stayed with her, and she sort of found the house for them to rent, and they ended up buying one. So they really just happened upon it. We'd spend the summer there. After renting for a year or two, my parents bought a little bungalow right on the ocean and I started going there from the time I was about 10 years old. I've been there pretty much every summer and many Christmases. Now I have a little house right next to my parents' house.

Can you still stay in the bed-and-breakfast your parents found? The woman, Maggie O'Donnell, is still there, but she does not do that anymore. She rents out the little cottage next to her house. The whole family used to live in a cottage that is next door, and it is perfectly preserved. The only way you can find her is to drive from Killybegs toward a town called Kilcar and stay on the coast road. About two miles before you get to Kilcar, I think you would just have to ask somebody, "Where is Maggie O'Donnell's house?" They don't even have numbers on the houses. It's a gray, two-story building, and next to it is a cottage. They rent out that cottage.