And those 2010 Roses

Yet another load of pics of the 2010 Roses - go here - Ireland.com to see it all!

All the 2010 Roses!

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

This slide show is on the site Broadsheet - well worth a visit.

Floats like a bird...

Martha Gilheaney c/o Irish Times

No, Martha is not practicing her levitation skills, she is dancing a reel. Martha Gilheaney is the 2010 Leitrim Rose. This picture and article are to be found at the Irish Times.

London, Tralee, Clare

The Irish Echo, from Australia, has more about London Rose Clare Kambamettu, 2010 International Rose of Tralee.

The site quotes Clare ' "It’s been an absolutely amazing week,” she said, “and what I’ve learned about the Rose of Tralee is that everything you think is going to happen, you just double it, and triple it, and add a million on to it and you get somewhere near what actually happens" '.

Visit the Irish Echo.

Less than 40 winks is good for you

How would you look in the morning if you only had 1.5 hours sleep? Not as good as Clare Kambamettu, 2010 Rose of Tralee. The photo appears in the Irish Times.
To quote from the article - '"It's in the unofficial job description. A Rose of Tralee must be able to party all night and emerge by breakfast looking as though she has had her full eight hours in the scratcher.So in keeping with tradition, London Rose Clare Kambamettu (26) from Co Kildare, the 52nd Rose of Tralee, turned up looking radiant, clear-skinned and sparkly eyed after 1½ hours of sleep yesterday morning.
By 9.30am she was on her fifth appointment of the day. “I went to bed at quarter past five and I’ve been up since before seven so it’s been a hectic couple of hours,” she smiled, her voice hoarse. “I’m just getting used to all this.”'

There's a lot more in the article - here.

A Trip to Tullamore

Danielle McBurnett, 2010 Arizona Rose, visited the town of Tullamore during her trip to Ireland, acording to the Offaly Express. Why Tullamore? Because it is twinned with Chandler, a town in Arizona. Simple really.

Read all about in the Offaly Express.

First Night Slideshow

Aisling Ryan, 2010 Queensland Rose, confuses Daithi

The Irish Independent brings us a great slideshow of the first night. Aisling Ryan (above) 2010 Queensland Rose, seems to have poor Daithi confused. Nothing new there, then.

One of the photographs is of Rose Talty, 2008 New Jersey Rose, who is Daithi's girlfriend.

Here is the slideshow.

More Pics - Second Night

Clare Kambamettu, London and International 2010 Rose

The Irish Independent has a very good slideshow of photographs of the Roses on the second selection night. Go here to view it.

Clare Kambamettu from London is the 2010 Rose!

Clare Kambamettu, London Rose and

2010 International Rose of Tralee

London Rose Again in 2010!

The 2010 International Rose of Tralee is Clare Kambamettu, reigning 2010 London Rose.

Daithi picks his Rose

Daithi has admitted that he is stepping out with a Rose - the 2008 New Jersey Rose. That's her, Rita Talty, up there!

Click the pic - it's huge!

299 More Photographs!

Those good people at Event Capture have been snapping away. Just visit their site and view (or buy!) 299 photos taken of the Roses at Ballinasloe.

Danielle on the edge

We don't often hear from the Clare Herald - but they bring news of Danielle McBurnett, the 2010 Arizona Rose. Here she is at the Cliffs of Moher, which she has voted to be amongst the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

The Clare Herald has an extensive profile not only of Danielle, but on the links between Arizona and Ennis, the county town of Clare.

Read it here.

Five things you didn’t know about the Rose of Tralee

If you go to The Daily Edge you can discover some nuggets regarding thr Rose Of Tralee Festival !

More Slideshows

Slideshows seem to be this years big new thing. The Irish Independent has a great one - view it here.

No Snakes in Australia?

The Carlton Hotel are one of the sponsors of the Festival - taking care of many of the Rose needs. Earlier in the week the Roses visited Dublin Zoo.

It was there that Bridget O'Connor, the 2010 South Australia Rose, came face to face with Brian the snake. She screamed and screamed, according to the Carlton website! Surely there are more dangerous snakes and spiders in Australia. Maybe not.

Down First

Lisburn Today (Ulster Star) brings us up to date with news of the 2010 Down Rose Gemma Murphy. It appears that Gemma is the first Down Rose in 51 years to reach the finals in Tralee. I think Gemma under sells herself slightly when she says (per the article) '"I will be nervous about the TV part because I have never been on stage before. It is not something I am used to, I hate being the centre of attention. It will be a ten minute conversation so I will just try to forget I am on TV. I am nervous that I might fall over or something but once I get started I'm sure it will be fine"'.

Visit the Lisburn Today site for the rest of the article.

Broadsheet Roses

the view from Broadsheet

The site Broadsheet brings you a slide show of some of the 2010 Roses. You should then browse Broadsheet - it should bring a smile to your face.

Daithi and Dublin

From the pages of the Herald we find Niamh Sherlock, 2010 Dublin Rose, with Daithi (you never see Daithi in a pic with another man!). The article tells us about her boyfriend (not Daithi!) and her plans for the coming Festival week.

More About Donal

Probably the best aricle about an Escort is the one in the Galway Advertiser. It gives a thorough profile of Donal Gill. Just to give you a flavour of the report '"As the girls were being interviewed the lads were also interviewed by Rose of Tralee delegate, Ollie Lawlor,” he says. “He and the girls chose the escort to go to Tralee to represent Roscommon. When I was chosen I was totally shocked. I had a fantastic night at the selection so it was an added bonus to be chosen. My full compliments go to the Roscommon Rose Committee, they put on a great night"', and "It was fantastic to meet the other lads, they were a sound bunch. It was good to be able to put faces to the names. It was an activity-based weekend with canoeing, kayaking, etc. The organisers also outlined the expected attire for the festival. A lot of it you would have yourself ordinarily. I had most of it myself. You are asked to look sharp, clean and casual"

You really should read the story - here.

Daithi Gets Rose Support

There is no stopping Daithi's progess. This pic and the following quotes come courtesy of IFTN.Their article includes the following quote '"We were in RTÉ,” he explains, “and the girls brought the sunshine with them. There was a big photocall with lots of photographers so we had a bit of fun with the girls chasing after me and sprinkling rose petals on my head. They’re a great gang of girls and I’m looking forward to getting to know them better in the coming days"' and also this '"The new host has admitted some slight issues have already risen as to his rapport with the 32 roses. “A few of the foreign Roses have admitted that they’ve watched some clips of me online to try to get a handle on my accent,” he says. “Hopefully they’ll be fluent by the time they join me on stage.” '

The IFTN is an interesting website - go there to find out about those people behind the RTE TV production.

The Daithi Show

He's everywhere! Daithi on the run, pic from Metro.

Leitrim Rose gets ready

Martha Gilheany, 2010 Leitrim Rose, is ready for the Rose Festival according to the Leitrim Observer. Just this week her itinerary includes "Tomorrow night we have a photo shoot with Daithi O Se and interviews with RTE. This week we fit in visits to Newbridge to sort out jewellery, we have lunch with ambassadors, visit Kilmainham Jail and the Guinness Brewery," before they move on to Ballinasloe, Birr, Banagher, Clare and Limerick. This Friday, August 20 the Roses arrive in Tralee, where the party really gets started. "It is going to get even crazier in Tralee, it moves up to fifth gear there," Martha explained. Each day is scheduled from 10am until 11pm with the judges watching their every move" - taken from the article.

Read more, a lot more, at the Leitrm Observer.

A Balbriggan German Rose

At last something about the German Rose 2010 Ruth Levins. She was spotted by the Fingal Independent at a dress fitting. It appears the Ruth is originally from Drogheda.

Read the Fingal Independent.

Roscommon Pair

Deirdre Lenihan, 2010 Roscommon Rose, Donal Gill, Escort

The Roscommon Rose website has a slideshow of their Roses send-off in conjunction with the Roscommon Lamb Fesival. Confused? No need to. Read all about it here.

Escort and his Rose

Adam Craughan certainly gets his PR done. The Clare Champion carries this photo of him. I'm thinking "butter wouldn't..............."

All the Roses!

RTE have just produced a slide show of all the Roses on a photocall, together with the ever present Daithi.

Visit this link to see all the photgraphs

Escort update

Adam Craughan with Limerick Rose Brid Richardson and Boston Rose Deirdre Keane.

What is a typical Escort? Have a look at the Limerick Leader - Adam Craughan is the Escort for Limerick and they do a profile of him here.

Some points from the article; 'Having heard about the tales and escapades of previous escorts, Adam said he is really looking forward to his trip to Tralee. "Absolutely, I can't wait for it. It's going to be a great experience. Our duties are to ensure the Roses have an enjoyable experience, to promote the festival and have a good time ourselves"'.

All The Roses

RTE have a slideshow of all the Roses since 1959 - see it at the RTE site. The images in the sidebar come from the RTE site.

Tracking the Roses

Roisin Hunt - San Francisco Rose 2010

There's more to the Festival than the last week in August in Tralee. A lot more. The Westmeath Independent brings us up to date with events all over the Midlands.

There are two reasons for the Midlands to celebrate the Roses - they have two Knockcroghery Roses - Aine Shine, Liverpool Rose and Roisin Hunt, San Francisco Rose.

Briefly, the itinerary takes the Roses from Ballina through Birr, Banagher, Dublin Clare and Limerick. To read the full itinerary please read the Westmeath Independent.

Daithi goes free

Maybe you know and maybe you don't, but the selection of the International Rose of Tralee will be held in the 'Dome', situated at the Carlton Hotel at Fel's Point in Tralee. The Carlton itself is the hub of all Rose events during the festival, indeed the Carlton group is heavily involved with the Rose of Tralee.

For instance, is your name Daithi ? If you are you qualify for a FREE overnight stay at the Carlton Tralee!

What's a Daithi? Spot him below!

                                         

Both photos from the Carlton.

Kerry in front

It seems that (in Ireland at least) Veronica Hunt, the 2010 Kerry Rose, is leading the betting. It is a great excuse to post another photograph of her.

The picture was taken by John Hennessy, photographer. Do visit his site for more.

Luxembourg Calling

Courtesy of the Luxembourg Rose site we have lots, tons, of photographs of the selection night. Clare McGing (above) was chosen as the 2010 Luxembourg Rose.

Visit the Luxembourg site.

Limerick well represented

Elaine Rael (above) is the 2010 Dubai Rose - she is from Castletroy in Limerick. The Limerick leader informs us that there are other 'Limerick Roses' -  Louise Lenihan, the Sydney Rose and Brid Richardson, the Limerick Rose.

More of this at the Limerick Leader site.

Fund raising update

Elsewhere on the site you can read about the climb up Kilimanjaro to raise funds for VSO. Kelly O'Shea, 2009 Queensland Rose, was one of the climbers. she is second from right in the above photograph.

Full details at The Chronicle.

Belfast Twosome

The Student President at Queen's University Belfast now has another duty - he has become an Escort for this year's festival. He is Gareth McGreevy and is pictured above with Frances Rafferty, 2010 Belfast Rose. The story come from the pages of the Belfast Telegraph.
We have seen many quotes from the Roses, so how about this from Gareth (in the Belfast Telegraph) "The Rose of Tralee is something I have grown up with in our house and we watched it every year without fail. I had always wanted to be one of those escorts and this year, thanks to my friend Susan, I went for it.” While acting as Student President for nearly 24,000 students, Gareth has managed to fit in a bit of fundraising for the event. “One of the most admirable things about the Rose of Tralee is that it isn’t just about the festival in Tralee. You get to put something back into your community and benefit others who need help. This year the Escort selected charity is Turning the Tide of Suicide. “Suicide is a major problem in Northern Ireland which sees us ranked as one of the highest rates in Europe. It is especially poignant for me as the suicide rate is especially high amongst young males who are in the low 20 age bracket — those who are at the age of attending University".

He has other interests too - go to the Belfast Telegraph for more.

Proper Way to Water Roses

The Irish Independent has this photograph and story. It seems that 6 Roses jumped fully clothed into the Atlantic Sea on the Kerry coast. Dominick Walsh is the photographer in the water, with Eric Hanaton taking the pic.

The article says 6 Roses went into the water, but I can only see 5 in the picture. Does anyone know who the missing Rose is?

The wet Roses were Belfast Rose Rose Frances Rafferty, Cork Rose Laura Mitchell, Kerry Rose Veronica Hunt, Tipperary Rose Lynda Kelly, Dublin Rose Niamh Sherlock and the 2009 Rose of Tralee Charmaine Kenny.

Mr. O'Gara is quoted in the article "If you are entering the knobbly knees or glamorous granny competitions, looking above to the magnificent aerial display and parachute jump or simply perusing the 50 years of fashion exhibition at the County Museum, we wish you every enjoyment at this year's festival".

Read the Independent article here.