Hollywood couple to deepen roots in Co Donegal
Stephen Maguire
Hollywood couple Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are to make their roots even deeper in Co Donegal.
The couple will apply for planning permission to extend their holiday home in Kilcar.
The property at Roelough has been in the Broderick family for almost 50 years.
The couple renovated and extended the cottage completely back in 2018, and spend long periods there with their children.
Now, the A-list actors are to extend the stunning home even more, and have applied for permission to Donegal County Council.
The new building will consist of a new split-level outhouse/garden room with a first-floor mezzanine loft ancillary to the existing cottage structures.
The planning notice is in the name of "Mr and Mrs Matthew Broderick".
The couple make no secret of their love of Donegal, with Parker often posting pictures on her social media of the family’s time spent in Donegal.
From her love of local cabbage to the Magee clothing brand, she has even written a poem about the sounds and smells of Donegal in an Instagram post.
They regularly attend community events and shop locally.
Broderick has also spoken of his love of Donegal.
He said: “Donegal, it’s unbelievable. It gave me a whole new childhood in a way. I grew up in New York City, I was born and raised here, so the fact that my parents managed to put the money together to get us there was a great gift to us.
“You know the landscape, the hiking but it’s also the people there that I grew up knowing. Real farmers who worked the hay in the summer and milked cows. I really, really got to know my neighbors and that just doesn’t happen in the same way here in the US.
We just really felt welcomed there. It’s another culture, a wonderful place.”
Broderick also spoke about how people in Donegal knew him even before he became an actor.
“People would say it’s special because of the sea air. I remember how deeply I would sleep there. It was so quiet, the smell of the turf fires, and the hay. I used to love helping with the hay.
“Most of the people in Donegal knew me long before I was an actor. But even since then they don’t talk that much about it, which is very nice. My wife still gets it, some people’s eyes pop out of their head when she walks around, but not our neighbours."
