The new Governor of Massachusetts is a woman with huge Galway connections – and hopes are high that she will make a trip back to the county of her forefathers after her election win last week.

Maura Healey, who has been Attorney General of Massachusetts for the past eight years, romped home in last week’s election, defeating her Republican rival, Geoff Diehl, by a margin of close to two to one.

The election was a pickup from the Republicans, with Charlie Banker leading the State for the past eight years.

The 51-year-old Democrat has strong connections to Ballinasloe in particular.

Her paternal grandmother Katherine (Treacy) Porter was born in Killahornia, Creagh, Ballinasloe on August 14 1896 to Michael and Mary Treacy. One of a family of five, all of the Treacy children – except her brother Michael (Sonny) – emigrated to Boston.

Sonny and his wife Mary lived in the homestead and raised a family of five: Annie; Molly; Cecelia; Kathleen and Joe. Many of their descendants continue to live locally in Ballinasloe.

The oldest of five children, Maura was raised in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. She studied Government at Harvard where she was the captain of the basketball team.

She subsequently spent two years playing professional basketball in Salzburg, Austria. Upon returning to the U.S., she studied law at Northeastern University.

In 2014 she was elected as Attorney General, a position to which she was re-elected in 2018. As Attorney General she gained national attention in the U.S. for her lawsuits against the Trump Administration and Purdue Pharma in relation to the opioid crisis.

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