6 days ago
Rose of Tralee: "I love the empowerment that it brings to women"
Presenters Dáithí Ó Sé and Kathryn Thomas made waves in Dublin today, climbing aboard the MV Cill Airne to launch the 65th Rose of Tralee International Festival.
Celebrating Irish identity in its many forms, the five-day festival will highlight the talents, interests and ambition of modern women living in both Ireland and abroad.
We caught up with the Carlow Rose, Queensland Rose, and Western Canada Rose to find out more.
Carlow Rose: Katie Ryan
Unlike many of the Roses, yoga teacher Katie Ryan had no familial connection with the festival, but was drawn to it through her community nonetheless.
"I got involved because there is a pub at home that I teach yoga in," she explains. "They wanted to put somebody forward to be the Carlow Rose and asked if I would do it. I was a little bit unsure, I didn't even know applications were open, but I thought, 'they've been so good to me with my business, I would love to give back to them'."
Throwing herself into the deep end, Katie says she's still "in shock" to be competing, but believes that her experiences in solo-travel and self-employment have emboldened her to take on new challenges.
"I think because I've done a lot of solo travel in my life, it's got me ready for adventures and mixing with new groups of people and joining new communities."
"I love the empowerment that it brings to women," she says of the festival. "It builds everyone up in such a positive light. I think it really helps all of the girls to work on their self-confidence and their self-worth, and that's something I'm really passionate about."
Queensland Rose: Siobhan Edwards
At the other end of the spectrum we have Siobhan Edwards, a 23-year-old Australian who has been dreaming about being a Rose since childhood.
"I've been involved in the Rose of Tralee my entire life," she says, beaming. "My mum was a past Rose. She was the 1989 Queensland - then Brisbane - Rose, so I've been going to the Queensland selection ever since I was about six years old."
"It's been the biggest source of connection to my Irish heritage and the Queensland Irish community. I've always known that I wanted to be a Rose. I think seeing the women get on stage every year to represent who they are, and being very confident in that, while speaking about their Irish heritage at the heart of all that - it's been such a huge source of inspiration for me."
"It's a dream come true," she adds, noting that the experience so far has exceeded expectations.
"The Rose of Tralee is an inter-generational family festival. I think having it be something I've grown up with - and grown up within - I'm really excited to show that it's something that doesn't stop. I've always been in awe of it, and I think it's a festival that has a place in modern society and is a celebration of modern Irish women."
Western Canada Rose: Ciara Confrey
Originally from Newbridge, Co Kildare, Ciara moved to Calgary, Canada, when she was 15 years of age and lives there to this day.
With encouragement from her mother ("Granny would be thrilled!"), the 26-year-old decided to connect back with her Irish roots, not only for herself but for her young daughter.
"I have a one-year-old daughter, so I wanted to show her that you can do whatever you want to in your life," she says. "It doesn't matter what age you are or where you are in the world, you can do whatever you like."
"She's like an eight-hour flight away from me right now," she adds. "The pressure is on! The pressure is on. But no, when she's five or six, I can show her the videos and she'll be like, 'mammy, mammy, mammy, you're on the telly'. I can't wait for her to know what this is and to know where she comes from, where her mammy comes from, and just to connect her a little bit to the Irish roots."
The Rose of Tralee televised event will take place on Monday, 18 & Tuesday, 19 August from 8pm - with a break for the Nine O'Clock News and resuming at 9.35pm - live on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
