I live in County Roscommon and when I was four years old my family and I went on holiday to stay in
a cottage, Teach Seán, Drumaneary, Mountcharles, County Donegal, this is on the Wild Atlanitc Way.
We had a Spanish friend named Maria who came with us, she was visiting us at the time.
On the day we arrived my Spanish friend, my older sister Leah and I went for a walk down to the sea.
We were walking along beside the water and Maria screamed with excitement when she picked up a
shell, she said, I think this is a baby sharks shell, she phoned her teacher in Spain and sent him a
photo of it and he said, wow that is correct, she was studying Marine Biology.
She showed it to us, told us it was also known as a Mermaids Purse. She wrapped it very carefully
and brought it home with her to Spain. This could have been washed across the Atlantic Ocean to
Donegal.
We then picked some mussels on the rocks and Maria cooked them with lemon and garlic using her
mother’s recipe, they tasted salty and the adults ate them and said they were delicious.
On the day we were leaving the cottage where we were staying, I walked down to the water with my
Grandmother and said, Bye Bye Beach, on our way home I told my Grandmother if she ever buys me
a house buy me one with a beach in Donegal.