The assembling, equipping and staffing of a hospital in the devastated Normandy town of St-Lô by the Irish Red Cross, from 1945 to 1946, was one of the most notable Irish contributions to the aftermath of the second World War.

And this was how Laura Mac Mahon’s parents first met. Her late mother Jacqueline, a French volunteer who drove an ambulance for the Red Cross, was invited to Ireland to mark Ireland’s contribution to the relief. She was introduced to Heber MacMahon at the Baldoyle Races and the rest, as they say, is history.

The couple raised their seven children at Spindrift, 8 Nashville Park in Howth, which has been the family home since the 1950s.

“What Dad really wanted was a home by the sea, and now three generations later all the grandchildren still love coming to the property which holds so many happy memories,” says Laura who now lives in the United States.

Even the property’s name Spindrift, the salty sea spray from waves during a storm, is evocative of its maritime location, at one of the most desirable addresses in Howth.

The detached house extending to 208sq m (2,239sq ft) sits on an elevated site with superb sea views. Though in need of some updating, which is mostly cosmetic, in its current layout the property has five bedrooms and four reception rooms.

There is ample room in the gardens, which extend to a significant 0.66 of an acre, to add further accommodation to the house subject to the usual planning requirements.

And it is indeed the gardens that are one of the selling points of the property, with remarkable views to the front, and a well maintained sun trap in the south-facing rear garden, both of which are connected by a sweeping driveway.

“We had so much fun exploring the gardens when we were young, in the winters we used to toboggan down the driveway, and when school finished we would set up croquet and play all summer long,” recalls Laura.

The house is on the market through Sherry FitzGerald seeking €1.4 million.