Magpie Cottage

About the Book

After their daughter married a Dubliner, the Georges visited Ireland for the first time and liked what they saw. When their Irish relations bought a thatched cottage in County Wexford, they decided to stay in Ireland for longer periods. Towards that end, the family transformed a vernacular building into a weekend retreat for young families and a summer resort for older friends and relatives.

Magpie Cottage describes this remodel, as well as their discoveries about country living, social institutions, medical care, grandparenthood, newspapers, books, cooking, and touring by bicycle or car.

About the Author

Mary Yanaga George comes from a restless family. For over one hundred years, they have moved ever eastward from Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, to County Wexford, Ireland. The author was born in Berkeley, California, and raised in New Haven, Connecticut. She studied art history in Northampton, Massachusetts, and Munich, Germany, graduating from Smith College just before the Cuban missile crisis. She earned a master’s degree in education from Claremont Graduate School in 1968. Ms. George and her husband raised two children, mostly in the Sunbelt. She also taught students from kindergarten through graduate levels, edited, published, and traveled extensively.