Charmaine visits her Alma Mater

The diary of the Rose of Tralee is extremely varied for the year of her reign. Here we see Charmaine Kenny, the 2010 Rose of Tralee, presenting the Susan Parkes Educational Achievement Medal to Lisa Cunningham at Trinity College.

The Trinity College website has all the details go here and/or here.

Hot News from Texas

Adrienne Hussey has been selected as the 2010 Texas Rose. Thanks to Marius and Holly for this news and photograph.

More to follow.

Luxembourg coming to Tralee

Clare McGing is the 2010 Luxembourg Rose - we learn this from news352. One of the Luxembourg McGings, Clare was born in there 22 years ago.

Maybe the news352 site can explain that - 'Clare, who was born and raised in Luxembourg and studied at the European School, won with her account of coming to terms with her nationality as an Irish person growing up in Luxembourg. Now studying at Trinity University, Dublin, she told the audience: “People always question where you are from. I’d tell them that I’m Irish but from Luxembourg. I think they found it confusing. In the end I enjoyed the fact that I was different. Once I stopped trying to make myself born and bred Irish and accepted that Irish was something else" '

Mid-Atlantic News

On Saturday 26th June, the 2010 Mid-Atlantic Rose will be chosen. Where? At the Philadelphia Irish Centre of course. And of course the ladies at the centre of things are the Conaghan sisters Karen and Sarah. In the picture above Karen is far left and Sarah far right.

Did you know that it is planned to have 250 rose centres in America covering nine regions? You didn't? Go to the Irishphiladelphia site to read; 'Anthony O'Gara, managing director of the festival, says the United States is about to gain many, many new Rose of Tralee Centres--groups of people responsible for running their own local and regional festivals."Our ambition is to build 250 centres in America in nine regions," says O'Gara. "Sarah Conaghan and her sister Karen Conaghan Race have spearheaded the movement here in the United States. This [instead of running just one local festival], they'll be running a regional festival pulling in six centres" '.

The article continues ' O'Gara acknowledges that there are many Rose of Tralee Centers in the States already--but they're scattered. "There are pockets of Irish in cities and regions all over the united States," he notes. "If you just have one centre for every state, you're only reaching a tiny portion of the Irish and irish-Americans living in that state," he says '.

Now you know!

Photos, photos, photos

The good people at the New Zealand Rose site are a very industrious lot. The Rose organisers spare very little when they publicise their activities. By way of email from Bryan Mulligan of the NZ center Rose of Tralee, we learn that they have just published a ton of photographs. The above picture of Elizabeth Sara, the 2010 New Zealand Rose, is just one.

A slideshow of the photos can be seen at http://www.emotif.co.nz/gallery.php?gallery=95 - this is the site of Emotif, the people who own the photos.

You can also go to http://www.roseoftralee.co.nz/2010-slideshow.html which is the New Zealand centre site.

An insider view at a Rose Selection weekend!

Ever wonder what happens at a Rose selection night or weekend? If so, you should head over to Kimbo's Blog-o, a blog written by Kimberley Farthing, from New Zealand - it's also full of great photographs (just like above).

She writes about her experiences at the 2010 weekend selection of the New Zealand Rose at Dunedin.

Go there and read it - very enjoyable!

Martha and her Wonderful FaceBook

Martha Gilheaney is the 2010 Leitrim Rose. She has a fantastic Facebook page - here is that link. With support like that shown on her page she should have a great time in Tralee later in the year.

Athy 2, London 2

The Kildare Nationalist has something of note to write about - the new 2010 London Rose, Clare Kambamettu is from Athy - just as last year's London Rose, Charmaine Kenny is also from Athy. Charmaine went on to become the 2009 International Rose of Tralee.

Do read the article, from which the following is quoted 'According to her mum, Breda, Clare decided to enter the competition when she saw an advertisement on her way home from work one evening. “She had been attending a lot of very serious interviews and just decided that this would be a bit of fun,” said Breda, adding that her daughter was selected as London Rose at Moran’s Hotel in North London last Saturday night. “Actually it was 2.30am on Sunday morning when the final result was announced – it was tremendous excitement all round,” Clare’s delighted mum told The Kildare Nationalist'.

Belfast Rose

We have just a little information on the 2010 Belfast Rose. She is Frances Rafferty and her picture comes care of the Carrick Times. There is some more news at the paper, read it here.

What the regional competition was like

Arizona Rose 2010. Danielle McBurnett

The Irish Independent published a wonderful article, written by Caoham Keane. It is such a great piece that it is reproduced in full here.

For the real item, go to the Irish Independent.

'Beneath the overcast sky the streets of Portlaoise are filled with farmers' tans. Babies cry in buggies while teenagers with camera phones leer from the crowd.

Old men hang about outside the pub, feigning indifference as we cruise past at a leisurely 10mph, while mammies jog along side us, camera in hand, breaking through the docile hoi polloi observing the passing commotion.
I'm in the front seat of a Triumph Herald 1964 with the Manchester and Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Roses Dee O'Reilly, 25, and Roisin Norton, 22, sitting behind. We're doing a loop of the town as part of a Vintage Car Parade, the highlight of the Gordon Bennett Classic Road Festival, which this year has teamed up with the Rose of Tralee regional finals to showcase Co Laois.
Until 2004 only eight counties represented the whole island, competing with the international girls for the chance to be crowned Rose of Tralee. Now, all 32 have a crack at the title, 29 of whom competed this June bank holiday weekend for one of the six places at the main event.
There are also 12 international Roses from North America and the UK competing for the four remaining spots, so the competition should be fierce.
Unfortunately for this budding young hack with dreams of making his name exposing bitchy beauty queens, it is not. Polite, pleasant and remarkably laid back, The Rose of Tralee doesn't seem to be the type of contest you enter to win.
Fifty years a-going, it is probably Ireland's biggest festival, a family-based event that was set up to bring tourism back to Tralee. The winning girl is the one deemed to best match the attributes of Mary, the original rose immortalised in the 19th-century ballad from which the festival takes its name.
Lovely, fair and smiling, Mary wouldn't get far in any post-Celtic Tiger beauty contest which seems to prefer cailins bleached blond and Botoxed, with every freckle concealed, every hair plucked, and a Lazarus-like ability to rise from whatever shame she has pulled down upon herself -- and her family -- to rise and make the headlines again.
"With competitions like Miss Ireland, the priorities lie elsewhere," O'Reilly explains. "We say: 'This is who I am. And it is exactly because of who I am that I will go on and be successful in this life.' It's not just what's on the outside. That's just the icing on the cake."
The Roses exude a nostalgic sense of Irishness. They are giving me the kind of feeling you get when you read Ireland's Own or the bumper Christmas edition of the RTE Guide.
Though I have barely spent any time with these ladies, I am already starting to question the great Yeatsian trope about romantic Ireland. It's not dead and gone. I'm in it. I wonder if there will be dancing at the crossroads later.
If there is, the girls will have to change first. While critiquing dresses may not be my strongest suit, I found myself wondering if there was any reason why the Roses seemed to favour a cut and a colour not usually seen on girls their age.
Floral patterns, stripes and polka dots abound. I see knitwear, complicated headwear and painful-looking footwear. Some girls look very striking; some are very original -- the Cavan Rose is sporting a lovely orange woollen gown -- while others look as if they have stumbled across a treasure trove for middle-aged drag queens.
Tyrone Rose Carla O'Brien, 27, sheds some light on the modest nature of the attire as she relates "getting a wee bit of criticism" at county level for wearing a cut above the knee. It wasn't just for show, she explains; she needed a shorter skirt as her talent was a dance from Riverdance.
The Laois and host Rose, Bernadette Ryan, 25, who has nicknamed herself the recessionary Rose, talks me through her ensemble. "Everything in my suitcase will have come from someone who has given it to me."
She believes no one is in a position to pay for frivolous things out of their own pocket with the way the economy is at the moment and sees it as a nice way to involve others. "The community gets together and it's a way for local businesses to promote themselves and the county."
Most of the girls come from farming stock, many are teachers, some nurses, some social workers, and there are a smidgen of students. Strangely, there are quite a few Roses who have set up their own stage schools. They all seem to be sport mad, competing in marathons, playing GAA and rugby and constantly chatting about their county teams who were in action over the weekend. Their answers and comments are littered with references to their parish, their community and their locality.
So why the Rose of Tralee? Some compete for the craic, others for the chance to meet new people. Yet more compete as a matter of honour, to represent their counties on a national and international level. The unifying strand is that they all grew up with the festival and in their youth expressed a desire to a family or friend to be a part of it.
The Sligo Rose, Stephanie Tempany, 25, recalls being allowed stay up late especially for The Rose as a child.
"The only nights you got to stay up in our house were The Late Late Toy Show and the Rose of Tralee, maybe the Eurovision if you were really, really good. So it reminds me of that back-to-school time of year when it was Glenroe, The Rose and then straight to bed."
Limerick's Brid Richardson, 24, can't remember a year she's missed it. "I'm a driven person and I loved watching the girls and seeing what they had done in life. It's not about world peace and wanting to save the world. You are in awe of them and what they have accomplished in their 24 or 25 years."
These girls really buy into this whole thing. "The message it puts out is that Irish women everywhere are capable, intelligent, fantastic individuals," says O'Reilly, "and like the Rose of Tralee herself in the song, each has something a wee bit more special about them."
On Saturday, things get even more Father Ted with a sheep-shearing competition, where more than 2,500 sheep are shorn by shearers from all over the world.
Armed with Champagne flutes, the Roses watch as world champion Ivan Scott does his stuff and look suitably impressed as the sweating, panting red-faced shearer grabs, strips and tosses the sheep down a hole before moving on to the next one.
The aim is to shear five sheep as fast as you could, making sure that "none went down the chute looking like a French woman, with hair under the arms", and the winner is Tom Kennedy, who did it in five minutes, 51 seconds. A selection of Roses are marched on stage to take part, teamed with a professional, before being frog marched off again by the predominantly female judging panel which had no time for such frivolity. This is serious business: there are sheep to be sheared!
A quick consultation with the organisers and the judges reverse their call as RTE are in the building and the Roses' stature presents too big an opportunity to bring some much-needed publicity to the event and the area.
Seven girls put themselves forward and, while The Wexford and Clare Roses impress, the Galway Rose makes her poor little lamb bleed by nipping it with her blade. Tempany, the Sligo Rose, used to earn her keep helping her father out with the sheep on the farm but demurred from reliving her youth. "That wool is very greasy and I haven't got a change of dress for this evening."
Elsewhere, the Limerick Rose demonstrates how to get up on a tractor while maintaining one's dignity, the Edmonton Rose flies around on a Massey Ferguson 35, and three other Roses try to guess the weight of two enormous heifers.
The good folk behind one stand give a demonstration of how you could turn poo into paper, while the Birmingham Rose is astride the bucking bronco, riding sidesaddle in an attempt not to flash her knickers.
I take a spin on an amusement ride with the Arizona Rose, Danielle McBurnett, who stands out from the other girls in her ambition. Eighteen years old and already a qualified nurse, she, like many of her North American counterparts, has her eyes firmly on the prize.
She is a bit savvier than some of the others and has a talent for positioning herself in the spotlight -- not a bad trait to have in an international ambassador. As I was spin around on the twist, my life flashing before my eyes like a mediocre mid-week movie, she smiles, raises her hands and aims her pearly whites directly at our cameraman.
A slash and a dash and we are back on the bus headed to hair and make-up for the final. Spread over two nights, the girls are interviewed for approximately 10 minutes by host Will Leahy before optionally performing a talent or party piece.
The crowd in the four-star Heritage hotel is made predominantly, if not wholly, of friends and family. The music starts. Carmina Burana seems a bit inappropriate for the opening credits of a personality contest, and, I would wager, does little to quell the butterflies.
The Tipperary Rose, who has been first up for nearly all the interviews so far, is taking it as a good omen that she's on first again tonight, while Wexford Rose Anne Sinnot is bouncing about claiming to have gone hyper (though having ridden with this life-lover earlier in the day, as she whooped and roared her way through the county in one of only three Austin 7 Arrows in the world, the change is hardly noticeable.)
The show itself is involving if a little unengaging when your own favourite roses aren't on-stage, and the tone of Leahy's questions has the feminist in my mind reaching for her Zippo and unhooking her polyester brassiere. No matter what the girls seem to have accomplished, we keep coming back to their role as doting daughter, simpering sister and wife-in-waiting.
There are the usual songs and stories with plenty of dancing across, around and, in the case of the poor old Sligo Rose, off the stage -- she goes arse over tit at the end of the first evening.
Poems recalling local and national treasures are recited (with piano muzak for added emotion) and some of the girls really push the boat out. The Wexford Rose bakes a banoffee pie in 60 seconds, the Limerick Rose teaches us how to do the hakka in Irish and the Wicklow Rose shows us how to burn money without ruining it. As each Rose departs the stage, so too do half her supporters tripping over themselves to get to the bar. Thunderous roars rock the Heritage hotel as each party jumps to their feet to support their local girl.
The 10 going to the next stage of the 51st Rose of Tralee are announced: Laois, Arizona, Liverpool, Sunderland, Leicester, Belfast, Down, Carlow, Tipperary and Leitrim.
My time with the Roses draws to a close, but for some, the party is only beginning. As I make my way to bed, a sister of one of the Roses is bellowing into her mobile phone: "We're going on the beer in Tralee!"

Read it all in the Irish Independent, here.

Cork Rose Picked

We have those great people at Event Capture to thank for this photograph of Laura Mitchell, the 2010 Cork Rose. There are loads and loads more photos of the Cork Selection night at their site.

Tipperary marches to Tralee

And now we have news of another Rose who will be at the finals in Tralee later in the year - Lynda Kelly, the 2010 Tipperary Rose.

That fine paper the Nationalist, tells us of the many talents of Lynda - "Lynda teaches Management and Organisational Studies at the Garda Training College in Templemore and holds a degree in Psychology and a Master's in Work and Organisational Psychology from NUI Maynooth. A talented and successful sportswoman, she was the first female to be named Athlete of the Year (2003) at NUI Maynooth, while she was playing for Munster and Ireland in senior ladies' rugby, and gained an international cap in the 2003 Six Nations against Cardiff. Her sister Patrique also played rugby for Ireland for eight years. Lynda's interest in rugby was fostered by her father Pat, who was always deeply involved with Kilfeacle Rugby Club in a variety of roles, including player, coach and manager. Both father and daughter also played with Clanwilliam Rugby Club. Although Lynda had to retire prematurely from rugby due to a back injury, she is still an avid sportswoman and plays basketball with the Tipp Tornadoes team, as well as hockey with the Tipperary Titans".

Go to the Nationalist for more about Lynda.

Louise is coming to party!

This is Louise Lenihan, the 2010 Sydney Rose. Louise has a bit if an idea what is ahead of her in Tralee, if we are to believe the Penrith Press - ' "From what I gather we’ll be doing 10 days of touring while we’re there," Ms Lenihan said. "Then the final day of the event will be televised nationally. It’s one big party" '.

Looking forward to it already.

Go to the Penrith Press for more.

Five years later

The Laois Nationalist brings us this picture of Bernadette Ryan, the 2010 Laois Rose. Apparently Bernadette is the first Laois Rose in five years to make it to the finals in Tralee.

Read it here.

Good luck Bernadette.

Martha Makes it

Martha Gilheaney, the 2010 Leitrim Rose has qualified at Portlaoise and will be in the International Rose festival in Tralee in August. This picture, care of the Leitrim Observer, shows Martha with Tommy - her 92 year old grandfather. It seems the Martha is the first ever Leitrim born Rose!

The Leitrim Observer goes on to tell us of Martha's many talents - "Martha is best known for her outstanding work as a dance facilitator/choreographer at the Shaylyn Group which she established with her sisters Laura and Jane. 25 year old Martha has a degree in Business Studies with Arts Management and a diploma in Image & Fashion Styling. She plans to return to college in September to do a Masters in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. She is no stranger to the stage as she has danced on You're A Star, appeared on Seoige and O'Shea and on the front page of the Irish Times. This will not be Martha's first appearance at the Rose of Tralee as she has previously performed with the Shaylyn Group at the Rose of Tralee International Festival".

The full article is here at the Leitrm Observer.

Jessica is on her way

Jessica Adamson, the 2010 Carlow Rose, has made it through the regional finals in Portlaoise - she is now headed for Tralee in August. We gather this news from the Carlow Nationalist.

And how did the competetion go? The Carlow Nationalist reports ' "It went very, very well, even though I was really nervous,” said a jubilant Jessie on Monday morning after only an hour’s sleep thanks to the lengthy celebrations. “There were 29 girls over the two nights and we spent the whole weekend living in each other’s pockets. They were all amazing. Half of us went on Saturday night and the other half was on Sunday night, and I was nearly as sick as a dog waiting to go on. But the escorts were back stage and they were really great. Then I went on stage and I was grand. It was brilliant to see all the Carlow flags out in the crowd" '.

Read it here.

Aisling is a dream

This is Aisling Ryan, the 2010 Queensland Rose. Photograph care of the Irish Echo (Australia). Click to enlarge.

Elizabeth, Rose of New Zealand

The ever reliable Southland Times brings us up to date with things relating to New Zealand. Elizabeth Sara, the Otago Rose has been crowned the 2010 New Zealand Rose.

It seems Elizabeth is not only coming to Ireland to compete in the International Rose Festival - she will be studying educational psychology in Dublin.

Read more at the Southland Times.

Dunedin Rose Takes New Zealand Title

We have a press release from the New Zealand Rose Site to thank for the news that Elizabeth Sara is the 2010 New Zealand Rose. Elizabeth was representing Otago as their Rose (picture from emotif.co.nz).

As the New Zealand Rose, Elizabeth now travels to the finals in Tralee later in the year. I think she may be understating the case when she says "I definitely don't have a clear idea of what I'm in for, but I've been told I will need a lot of energy and will be rushed off my feet, so I'm looking forward to it all".

A lot of energy, indeed.

click the pic to enlarge

New Zealand prepares to pick it's Rose

click to enlarge

It's not only regional finals in Portlaoise - New Zealand has it's own regional rose competition. In the photograph above we see the New Zealand Rose of Tralee finalists (from left) Ashley Mackenzie-White, Karen Lynch, Kimberley Farthing, Nicole Gourley, 2009 New Zealand Rose of Tralee Lisa Monaghan, Elizabeth Sara, Anna Mills and Laura Young in Invercargill.

This picture is from the Southland Times (again!) and our attention was drawn to the article by the good people at the New Zealand Rose site - Bryan Mulligan in particular.

Talented Michelle

Michelle Moyles, the 2010 Mayo Rose, is but one competition away from appearing in the International Rose final in Tralee. According to the Mayo Advertiser, Michelle is "quite nervous" about the regional final in Portlaoise.
The article details some of Michelle's abilities -"Michelle is an avid Galway Musical Society member and accomplished member of the McCole School of Irish Dance for adults; she also enjoys salsa and ballroom and once a month helps organise a disco for people with disabilities. Well-travelled Michelle hopes to complete a masters degree and further contribute to the field of social care".

Noreen, The Sunderland Rose

Noreen Feeney with the famous Charlie Chawke.

Noreen Feeney is the 2010 Sunderland Rose. The Sunderland Echo brings us up to date with events. Noreen is originally from Armagh and is a clinical hospital pharmacist at Sunderland Royal Hospital.

The Echo reports Noreen as saying "This is something I've always wanted to do since I was a little kid and it's amazing to be given this opportunity".

Her next appointment is in Portlaoise for the regional finals. Read about Noreen at the Sunderland Echo.

Meath has a Sarah too

The Meath Chronicle brings us another photograph of Sarah McCann, the 2010 Meath Rose. Here she choosing her outfits for the regional finals in Portlaoise. More at the Meath Chronicle.

Sarah from Louth

Sarah Hoey is the 2010 Louth Rose, she will be going to the regional finals in Portlaoise. Her weekend includes (according to the Dundalk Democrat); ' "The regional finals marks the start of a hectic few days for the Mill Road girl, who also intends to run the Women's Mini Marathon in Dublin in aid of cancer on Bank Holiday Monday. "I'll be going down to Portlaoise on Friday morning and there's a big parade on Saturday and the results then on Sunday. "Then on Monday, I'll be stopping off in Dublin to do the women's mini marathon with a few girls I work with from Mizu." '

Go to the Dundalk Democrat for the full story.

Mayo Rose one step from Tralee

Mayo Rose one step from Tralee

The Mayo News has a piece about Michelle Moyles, the 2010 Mayo Rose, written by Aoife Gillivan

MAYO Rose, Michelle Moyles, will be competing in the Rose of Tralee International Regional Finals this weekend to determine whether she will qualify for the main event in Tralee in August.

The finals will be held in the Portlaoise Heritage Hotel over the June Bank Holiday weekend, where British and North American finalists will also compete.


Michelle’s journey to become a rose has certainly been a family affair. Speaking to The Mayo News, the Crossmolina native explained it was her sister who filled out her application form for the contest, which gave Michelle a kick-start towards fulfilling a childhood dream.


“I suppose, like every Irish girl, I grew up watching the Rose of Tralee. I was five years old when I told my daddy that I was going to one day be up there on the stage. It’s a dream really to be involved in a contest I have been watching my whole life.” Michelle’s sponsor for the competition is ‘Alpha Wind Energy’ a Danish company her father worked with while setting up the family venture ‘Moyles Wind Farm’.


Michelle admits that becoming the Mayo Rose is ‘only just sinking in’ but she is excited to continue in the competition. She has already been practicing some social duties that coincide with the title, such as being invited as guest of honour at a ‘Sex and the City’ movie premiere night in the Broken Jug Bar, Ballina.


The Mayo Rose has been astounded by the support and encouragement of her family, friends and work colleagues. Michelle is a social care worker in ‘Ability West’, Co. Galway. Her clients, whom she calls her ‘family away from home’, have been exceptionally supportive.


“They’re so cute, they now call me ‘Rosey’. One client missed an interview I had on Mid-West Radio and has been plaguing me to bring in a tape of it.” They have also made posters and banners that some of Michelle’s work colleagues will bring to Portlaoise, in a bid to cheer Michelle on to Tralee.


Michelle proudly acknowledges her achievement so far, especially overcoming her nerves before singing in front of hundreds of people at the TF., Castlebar. Her experience of the contest so far has been wholly positive, as she recalls the kindness of a fellow contestant at the Mayo Rose competition. “It turned out I had to stay an extra night at the Castlebar competition for Mayo Rose and a girl I had just met that day, Debra, invited me to stay in her home. We went out with people from the competition that night, who were complete strangers to us, and had the best fun.” It is this positive meeting of new people that Michelle seems to enjoy most about being part of the competition.


The Portlaoise finals will be the last hurdle Michelle will face on her route to the Festival Dome. It is a case of the more the merrier who wish to attend the finals in support of the Mayo Rose.


She will partake in personal interviews, on-stage interviews and of course perform her talent of singing. All going well, she will be one of six girls, out of the regional finals twenty nine roses, selected to the live show.

Chloe, the Kilkenny Cat

We are grateful to the good people at Eoin Hennessy Photography for this wonderful photograph of Chloe Hitchcock, the 2010 Kilkenny Rose.

Click the picture for a larger image.