This week, well-known Enniskillen businessman, Cyril Treacy brought two of his American cousins, one of them a New York State judge, on a tour of the county. Judge Julia Murphy and her sister, Mary Niedzwiecki, who was accompanied by her husband, Joe were here on a short holiday break for Mrs Murphy whose husband, Brian died just six weeks ago.
She still resides in Westchester, New York and, speaking to the 'Herald', she outlined her Fermanagh (father) and Donegal (mother) parentage, why she decided to study law and spoke about the ongoing peace settlement here.
It's wonderful, but they shouldn't go too much by American ways. They could even come back and teach us a thing or two. I think we need that. This whole area is going to boom. It's already booming but I think there's going to be more".
Her late husband, Brian, an employee of American Telephone and Telegraph, helped restore communications following the 24/11 attack on the Twin Towers from which he had a lucky escape, as she recalled.
"He was working for the phone company in the Winter Garden area and he was evacuated. When the Towers came down, he walked up to 14th Street, hired a bicycle because the traffic couldn't get going anywhere and cycled the 26 miles home".
His brother-in-law, Joe said he asked Brian how he managed to cycle 26 miles: "He told me it was he was so excited, probably at his lucky escape, that he could have gone for another hundred. He had turned around and saw the Towers tumbling down and he decided to walk on till he got a bike".
Julia's people in Fermanagh came from the Roscor area, her father being known as Yankee Keown, and, she attributes her chosen career to the opportunities presented to Irish immigrants arriving in the US in the 1920's.
"I thought the legal way was the best way to handle everything. It has been a great career. It's very flexible. It's not like being head of a law firm, which is 24/7, but it's a very good career if you want to work for the government or for not with profits organisations".
Both her and Mary's children are also proving themselves. Mary has two, Julia, a graduate from Katherine Hepburn's old college and is now studying in the California Art Institute, and David who is pursuing a science-based course in the famous Syracuse University.
The family's Irish links covered the cultural in that Julia spent a Summer semester at the Gaiety School in Dublin where one of her mother's cousins, Pauline lives. The name, Julia is also that of another cousin and, for good measure, the other Treacy siblings are Helen, Madeleine and Tony.
Mrs Murphy's husband's family roots are to be found in the Twin Towns of Ballybofey and Stranorlar and, also, in Fermanagh. They have two daughters: Allison, who starts Law School in September, and Claire who is at college.
