5 days ago
Dreams come true for Fermanagh Rose as she prepares to take to the Tralee stage
This season's Fermanagh Rose has shared her excitement about representing her home county in the Rose of Tralee this weekend.
Caoimhe Connolly is set to take to the stage in the annual festival – which runs from this Friday, August 15 through to next Tuesday, August 19 – and says it is a "great honour" to have been selected.
"It means a great deal to my family and my village, but for me personally, I have dreamed of being a Rose ever since I was a little girl," she explained.
She described her earliest memory of the festival as dating back to 2005, when a Rose from her village was chosen as the Belfast Rose.
(Image: Caoimhe Connolly) Caoimhe said: "Our entire primary school watched in support of Tina that year.
"I have watched it every year since, in admiration of all the young women who are representing their jurisdictions."
The chartered accountant, who graduated with a first-class honours degree in accounting and finance, began her education at St. Tierney's Primary School.
She said: "Roslea is a small village, so you develop strong connections and friendships with people young and old, and that develops your character from an early age."
Caoimhe went on to attend Mount Lourdes in Enniskillen, where she was Deputy Head Girl.
(Image: Caoimhe Connolly) Caoimhe was involved in the choir and music, but says being part of the senior student council taught her valuable skills.
"I was involved in choir and music a lot," she said, "but also believe that being involved in the senior student council taught me valuable skills – learning how to voice your opinion and suggest improvements, whilst being considerate to other points of view."
The Fermanagh Rose also took part in the Ulster Project Enniskillen in 2014, which saw her live with a host family in Cincinnati for one month.
She said: "The main goal of Ulster Project is to oppose discrimination of any kind – such as racism, sectarianism, bias.
"I got the chance to live with a host family in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the USA for one month, and together with other teens from Fermanagh, we worked on fundamentals that promote tolerance and respect across the lines that divide us and creating unity amidst diversity."
(Image: Caoimhe Connolly) She said she was able to carry forward this way of thinking in her later years at school, throughout her degree and in her working life.
Caoimhe is proud to represent Fermanagh in the prestigious festival, particularly as she is from Rosslea, one of the smallest villages in the county.
She is also keen to shine a light on Cancer Focus NI – a charity she has been dedicated to over the past year.
She said: "I have been fundraising for Cancer Focus since March, 2024 and I was at an event for the charity shops challenge, where I won an award for 'Team Star' and 'Best Reel/TikTok video' to raise awareness for the charity itself."
Caoimhe is grateful to the local and national businesses that have sponsored her with dresses and cash donations for the Rose of Tralee festival.
(Image: Caoimhe Connolly) She has thanked Darlo Rentals, Get That Trend boutique, Julie O'Shea at Robe rental, Encirc, The Giddy Box, Mannok, Traynors Butchers, The Village Inn, Roslea Salt Haven, Roslea Credit Union, and the local people of Rosslea, her family and friends for their support.
Caoimhe will be singing on stage as part of the festival, a talent she discovered during a school musical, 'Footloose', where she was a backup singer.
"I sang at the Fermanagh Rose selection evening and I was definitely nervous beforehand, but I remember feeling like, 'Wow, I want to do that again'," she said.
