One May we rented a house on the shore of Lough Swilly in Rathmullen, Co. Donegal, within sight of the cove that launched the famous Flight of the Earls.

Just after dawn…

Sitting quietly alone, gazing out the window at the sight,

Of night’s grasp soon giving way to morning’s light.

The sun slowly rising, erasing the morning gloom

With me…

Growing up in a Donegal emigrant household in the New York Metropolitan area shaped my life profoundly. From the beauty of the Gaelic language spoken in our sitting room to the wild yarns spun…

Visiting Ireland has long been one of my deepest desires. I have Irish ancestry on both sides of my family, but sadly very…

I remember the first time I learned from my father that we are Irish.  I was a little girl, not even old enough to go to school yet, and he told me that our name, O'Brien,  means that we are…

My childhood was blessed with but one grandparent, my County Donegal, Ireland born grandmother.  Fondly I remember "Gamma's" pancakes sprinkled with sugar and warm milk, her boiled apple dumplings…

You never forget your first…

It was a "soft", chilly March day years ago when my then-20-something daughter, Quinn, and I left the Abbey House Bed and Breakfast for the short journey across the highway to the Jerpoint Abbey…