SLIPPERY ROCK — One recent college graduate used her time between studying to travel the world, and one trip has punctuated her life.

Butler High School graduate Abby Fugh of Butler also just graduated from Slippery Rock University.

Fugh has traveled to eight countries during her studies, but none struck a chord quite like her trip this year to Ireland, where she traces her family's lineage.

It was in Ireland where everything she'd every been told about her heritage culminated in one moment, when she scattered her grandfather's ashes at the Cliffs of Moher.

George Murphy married his wife, Sue, and had one child, his daughter and Abby's mother, Erin Fugh.

Normally, having a daughter as an only child would mean the end of the Murphy name, but for this family the women have found a way to honor their Irish heritage.

“My dad was always fiercely proud of our Irish descent,” Erin Fugh said. “He raised me to always think that we came from Ireland. Same with both my girls. That's why their middle names are Murphy.”

Abby and her sister, Maggie, both share the middle name Murphy.

“My name is Abigail Murphy Fugh,” Abby Fugh said. “I never really enjoyed it until I got older and appreciated the value of it.”

Abby Fugh's trip to Ireland started with scholastic intent. She visited major companies such as Dell, Microsoft and PayPal. She said she learned a lot about international business.

“It was incredible being able to see how business is done in a different culture,” she said.

Abby Fugh said she noticed an emphasis on mental health.

“At PayPal they had mental health facilities and resources on site,” she said.

She said her trip was a little more than a week long, and many of the students that went took a lot away from it, but Abby Fugh will always have the Cliffs of Moher.

They are sea cliffs located at the southwestern edge of the Burren region in County Clare, Ireland.

At Hag's Head, they rise 390 feet above the Atlantic Ocean.

The cliffs rank among the most visited tourist sites in Ireland, with around 1.5 million visits annually.

The Cliffs of Moher have appeared in numerous films, including “The Princess Bride,” as the filming location for “The Cliffs of Insanity” and “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.”

Abby Fugh said she had the idea before the trip. She took a handful of ashes, the remains of her grandfather, who died in September.

“I took some of his ashes there,” she said. “He and I were so, so, so close.”

She let the wind scatter the ashes.

“It was very moving for her,” Erin Fugh said. “I knew it would be hard for her.”

George Murphy is in famous company. Most of singer Dusty Springfield's ashes were scattered at the cliffs.

Erin Fugh said in addition to his Irish heritage, her father, who taught at Pine-Richland School District, formerly Richland Township, for 40 years, also passed down a great intellect to his family.

Erin Fugh said her father was a member of Mensa, described as the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world.

“Their intelligence, their willingness to want to learn things about other people, they're able to meet somebody and right away have a connection with them, which is what I feel my dad did,” she said. “They just took a lot of his characteristics on.”

Erin Fugh is not sure where her daughter developed the love of traveling, but she tries to support her daughter's lifestyle, despite her own reservations.

“I'm scared to death for her,” she said. “I'm frightened for her in one respect, but I'm also happy for her because I know she can do it.”

Erin Fugh said her daughter's driven mindset and her already substantial accomplishments, including receiving Slippery Rock University's Board of Governor's Scholarship, allow her to trust in her daughter's ability to make her own path.

“I'm so happy because I know that she's going to make a mark. She already has,” Erin Fugh said.

Abby Fugh is already preparing for her next step. She will start her career in September, moving to Memphis, Tenn., to work for Amazon.

Right now, she's in Japan.

Abby Fugh said her Ireland trip and all of her travels have prepared her for her career.

“I'm going to be working around the world with people that are more educated than me and have different backgrounds,” she said. “When you expose yourself to different cultures you learn things about different people and about yourself.”

- Ireland is a Western European nation occupying five-sixths of the island of Ireland in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Great Britain.Its climate is temperate, modified by the North Atlantic Current. It has mild winters and cool summers. The weather is consistently humid and overcast about half the time.Ireland’s terrain is mostly flat to rolling interior plain surrounded by rugged hills and low mountains with sea cliffs on west coast.- Ireland’s population distribution is weighted to the eastern side of the island, with the largest concentration being in and around Dublin. Populations in the west are small due to mountainous land, poorer soil, lack of good transport routes and fewer job opportunities.n The population is considered 82.2 percent Irish, 0.7 percent Irish travelers, 9.5 percent other white, 2.1 percent Asian, 1.4 percent black and 4.1 percent other or unspecified.Ireland is predominately Roman Catholic with 78.3 percent identifying with the church. Other religions include: Church of Ireland 2.7 percent, other Christian 1.6 percent, Orthodox 1.3 percent, Muslim 1.3 percent, other 2.4 percent, none 9.8 percent and unspecified 2.6 percent.- The modern Irish state traces its origins to the failed 1916 Easter Monday Uprising that touched off several years of guerrilla warfare resulting in independence from the United Kingdom in 1921 for 26 southern counties; six northern (Ulster) counties remained part of the UK.Deep sectarian divides between the Catholic and Protestant populations and systemic discrimination in Northern Ireland erupted into years of violence known as the “Troubles” that began in the 1960s.The government of Ireland was part of a process along with the UK and United States governments that helped broker the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland in 1998. This initiated a new phase of cooperation between the Irish and British governments.Ireland was neutral in World War II and continues its policy of military neutrality. Ireland joined the European Community in 1973 and the euro-zone currency union in 1999.- The economic boom years of the Celtic Tiger (1995-2007) saw rapid economic growth, which came to an abrupt end in 2008 with the meltdown of the Irish banking system. Today the economy is recovering, fueled by large and growing foreign direct investment, especially from U.S. multinationals.Ireland’s low corporation tax of 12.5 percent and a talented pool of high-tech laborers have been key factors in encouraging business investment. Loose tax residency requirements made Ireland a common destination for international firms seeking to avoid taxation. In 2014, amid growing international pressure, the government announced it would phase in more stringent tax laws, effectively closing a commonly used loophole.- Ireland, Iceland, and the UK dispute Denmark’s claim that the Faroe Islands’ continental shelf extends beyond 200 nautical miles.Ireland remains a transshipment point for and consumer of hashish from North Africa to the UK and Netherlands and of European-produced synthetic drugs.Despite recent legislation, narcotics-related money laundering — using bureaux de change, trusts, and shell companies involving the offshore financial community — remains a concern.<em>CIA World Factbook</em>