Photo Karen Graham.
Local radio host Megan Murphy entertains guests at the Bailieboro Women’ Institute Spring Luncheon.
More than 70 people attended the annual spring luncheon at Centreville Presbyterian Church hosted by the Bailieboro Women’s Institute.
After a hearty lunch prepared by members of the group, local radio host and filmmaker Megan Murphy took centre stage and regaled the crowd with a light-hearted and touching story about her life-changing trip when life changing was at the top of her agenda.
While emptying a closet in the home of her late parents, Megan came across a diary written by her father describing a bicycle trip he had taken across southern Ireland at the age of 26- a time when he, too, was seeking a new path. She quickly concluded that what worked for her “Da” might do the trick for her and a plan began to develop.
She decided to recreate that 1500 kilometer journey, relying on the same bicycle now forty years older. After incorporating a few changes to up the comfort level, she began to practise her cycling skills after work. Not satisfied with just making the trip, her extensive training in entertainment drove her to document her journey in a film, aided by some family members who followed her with cameras for a portion of her trip. Entitled “Murphy’s Law: A Documentary” the resulting feature-length film earned Murphy an award as best documentary at the Fingal Film Festival in Ireland in 2016.
More important than the public recognition, for Megan the film is a tribute to her late father, Marty Murphy, who returned to Peterborough becoming a well-respected lawyer and family man but died in his early 50’s of colon cancer. His wife Mary Ann suffered a quick bout of lymphoma and also died a few years ago, before the journal was discovered.
During her presentation, Megan demonstrated her sense of humour and her experience in relating to her audience as an actor, broadcaster and filmmaker. With moments ranging from funny to sad to touching, Megan shared a story that was both personal and relatable, with moments everyone could recognize. Apparently, the journey worked- Megan seems to have found her stride, and has made her audience look forward to what comes next. KG
