Rose of Tralee 2025: Sparks fly as electrician Katelyn Cummins crowned the winner
Rose of Tralee
on Tuesday night at the conclusion of this year's festival in Co Kerry.
She inherits the honour from last year's winner, Keely O'Grady, who describes the festival as 'a beauty pageant that's not about beauty'.
The 20-year-old electrician hails from village of Ballyouskill, which sits on the Laois and Kilkenny border.
Over the course of the two televised nights, Roses discussed issues as wide-reaching as women's health, financial literacy, the importance of mental health and how to keep girls participating in sports.
READ MORE
Meme-worthy moments from this year's contest included hosts
Dáithí Ó Sé
and
Kathryn Thomas
performing yoga with dogs, a judicial assistant Rose receiving a gold card for Copper Face Jacks (a lifetime membership that allows you to skip any and all lines in to the Dublin nightclub) and an ode to the jumbo breakfast roll.
This year also saw the replacement of Will Leahy as MC with the breakfast radio host and 2015 Rose of Tralee escort
Carl Mullan
.
The youth wing of the pageant also had a new edition, with Rose Buddies joining the ranks of the Rose Buds, a group of 6-10 year olds who get to participate alongside the Roses in the festival.
The winner of competition takes home
a prize fund
that includes the use of a brand-new car for 12 months, free hotel stays and hair treatments in Tralee for the year and a €25,000 travel bursary.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Daily Mirror
6 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Tommy Bowe questions woman's decision to bring child to tennis match
Tommy Bowe has questioned the decision of a parent to bring their child to a tennis match after the child in question disrupted the players by crying. Partway through the match between Emma Raducanu and Aryna Sabalenka at the Cincinnati Open, Raducanu complained about the crying child 'for ten minutes' to the chair umpire, who replied in seemingly disbelief by asking whether Raducanu wanted the child to be removed, to which Raducanu and some of the crowd responded in the affirmative. The British tennis star has come in for some criticism from some quarters for her remarks and attitude to the crying child, but she has a supporter in ex-Ireland rugby star Tommy Bowe who also believes the child shouldn't have been brought to the event. Emma Raducanu (Image: ISI Photos via Getty Images) Appearing on Ireland AM, the topic of Raducanu's comments came up, with Bowe being asked what he as a father of two would have done in the situation. Bowe told actor Gerard Jordan, who was appearing on the show, that he wouldn't have brought his children to such an event, and in an imagined scenario where a babysitter fell through at the last minute, the ex-rugby star claimed that in that situation he would have simply stayed at home with the children. "As a parent, I would know that it would be too stressful for me to take my child in there to be put in that situation. So I'd decide, no, I don't think it's worth upsetting the other people who are watching it and me being put under the stress of doing it. I'll watch it on the telly," said Bowe. Tommy Bowe Like Raducanu, Bowe has come in for some criticism for his comments, with one social media user saying "Disappointed in these comments. No compassion for that mom. Gerard Jordan is just trying to inspire people to put themselves in someone else's shoes for two seconds but y'all can't even do that." Others have defended Bowe, and have suggested that in a sporting event like tennis where the crowd remains mostly silent, perhaps a young child isn't suited to such an environment. As for the match itself, Sabalenka won in three sets as she continues to build momentum ahead of next month's US Open, where Raducanu will team with Carlos Alcaraz in mixed doubles action.
Irish Daily Mirror
6 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Rose of Tralee winner says title means more than tiara amid bosses' decision
Rose Of Tralee winner Katelyn Cummins has said winning the title means more to her than getting to wear a tiara. This year, the Laois Rose was given a mega prize package, including a car for 12 months, a Kerry holiday and free hair styling for a year, in exchange for the coveted tiara. It comes after festival bosses decided in 2022 to scrap giving a stunning bespoke tiara designed by either Tipperary Crystal and Newbridge Silverware to the winner. But electrician apprentice Katelyn revealed she didn't even think in the moment about what she had won. She told the Irish Mirror: 'It was absolutely unreal. Like, you don't even think in the moment that I'm not getting this or I'm not doing that. You're just in the moment and you're enjoying just being given the title, (which) is everything to me. Do you know what I mean? 'Like, there's nothing quite like it,' she said. RTÉ revealed that over half a million viewers tuned in to see the Laois Rose crowned this year's Rose of Tralee winner. Katelyn said waking up on Wednesday morning as the Rose of Tralee winner felt 'surreal'. 'It feels surreal. Honestly, it doesn't feel real at all like this after happening, and I don't think it will for a few days. 'I think I'm just going to kind of enjoy my time with the girls and the lads down here, and then I think it'll all hit me when I head back home.' The 20-year-old plans to return back to work as an electrician next Monday morning. Figures from RTÉ revealed that on Tuesday night, a peak audience of 532,000 tuned in at 11.20pm as the 2025 International Rose of Tralee was crowned. Across Monday and Tuesday night's broadcasts, RTÉ One and RTÉ One +1 drew an average audience of 424,000. On Tuesday night, an average audience of 505,000 watched after the news on RTÉ One, with a 55 per cent share of the available audience tuning in. The show had a 1-minute reach of over 1.2 million on RTÉ One and RTÉ One +1 across both nights. Laois Rose Katelyn Cummins reacts to winning the Rose of Tralee (Image: RTE News) It was a record high for the RTÉ Player as it has so far recorded 202,000 total streams to date for the festival, with viewers tuning in from more countries than ever before. A total of 102 countries around the world, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Germany, Greece, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Mexico, India, Kenya and Malaysia, all had viewers tuning in. Katelyn previously opened up about taking a trade as her career path and how some of her customers get a shock when they see her at their front door. She previously said: 'Yes, they would be shocked in a good way. People are very enthusiastic in a good way about it. They're very supportive and ask me if I know any more female electricians. I love doing it and I am so happy that there are more women getting into it now. 'It's so empowering for women to be able to see that there are other women doing it. I think that pushes other women to do that I am delighted about.' She also said it was her dad who introduced her to being an electrician. 'Growing up on a dairy farm, I'm so used to working with my hands… the hard work was always built into me from such a young age. 'School was never really for me. I didn't enjoy it that much. The Leaving Cert didn't stress me out. After I did work experience in TY, I knew I wanted to do something different. 'My dad dropped me in with the local electrician for the week and I absolutely loved it.' Katelyn Cummins (Image: Domnick Walsh © Eye Focus LTD) Opening up about her decision to enter the Kerry festival, she said she was looking forward to meeting new friends. She said: 'It was the exciting idea of making new friends. I originally took part in the Laois selection because I didn't have that many friends in Laois and I wanted to make more friends and have a better social life in Laois with lots of new girls. 'With my job, I just work with a lot of lads all the time so it would be nice to meet a lot of new girls. After school, girls drift apart, and it was just wanting to make more friends in the area.' Katelyn added that seeing last year's Rose of Tralee winner Keeley O'Grady encouraged her to enter the competition. 'I'm 20 and I was approached by the coordinator back two years ago when I was working part-time in a hotel. She was going around scouting for girls and she asked. 'But I had just turned 18 and I felt I was too young for it. I was doing my Leaving Cert year as well. 'Then when I saw Keeley O'Grady was 21 and crowned the Rose of Tralee it just showed that anything is possible, and you didn't have to have a certain background or be a certain age. 'That's probably what pushed me. I think it's so empowering for girls this year because there was such a wide age group. There's a lot of younger girls going for it.' Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here. The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week
Extra.ie
6 hours ago
- Extra.ie
EXCLUSIVE: Rose of Tralee host Dáithí Ó Sé's son Ógie makes his Dome debut
Rose of Tralee host Dáithí Ó Sé skipped the after-after-party celebrations opting instead for a 'relatively' early' night in bed, can exclusively reveal. 'Her'e c'mere and I tell ya,' a jovial Dáithí told Extra. 'There was talk of a party at 3.45 in the morning and they were trying to get me to go but I got out of dodge,' he laughed. Seasoned star Dáithí, who once again hosted the Rose of Tralee to great aplomb, said he and his wife Rita- who he met while she was herself a rose competitor, opted for family time over fun times. Dáithí Ó Sé and Kathryn Thomas. Pic: Domnick Walsh 'Rita and Ógie (Dáithí's affectionate name for his young son) were up in the room so I headed for the hills.' And it was indeed a special family occasion for the O'Sé clan, as wife Rita returned to the Dome for the first time in many years, with eleven-year-old Ogie making his Dome debut. 'Rita hasn't been back to the Dome for many years so she was delighted to come along with me this year and savour the atmosphere inside in the Dome,' Dáithí told Extra. Dáithí Ó Sé and his wife Rita. Pic: VIP Ireland And his mini-me son Ógie is already eyeing up his famous father's role as host with the most. 'And it was Ógie's first ever time to come to the Rose of Tralee and he was absolutely fascinated. He really enjoyed it. He was actually supposed to be heading home after Monday night but he cajoled us into allowing him to stay on,' laughed Dáithí And so content with watching from the wings little Ógie went full on Rose of Tralee mode. Dáithí Ó Sé. Pic: Domnick Walsh 'Sure when he saw everyone dressed up we went out and rented a Tuxedo for the final and he was off stage during rehearsals. So I think he's trying to do me out of a job,' laughed Daithi When pressed for some of the goings-on from the afterparty Dáithí said he was't privy to the celebrations. 'As I said I headed for the hills. Youth is but a wonderful thing. But I heard they went out all night with nary a wink of sleep to be had.'
