The Rose of Tralee
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The Rose of Tralee festival is an international competition which takes inspiration from a nineteenth century Irish ballad of the same name about a woman called Mary, who because of her beauty was called 'The Rose of Tralee'. The words of the song are credited to C. (or E.) Mordaunt Spencer and the music to Charles William Glover, but a story circulated in connection with the festival claims that the song was written by William Pembroke Mulchinock, a wealthy Protestant, out of love for Mary O'Connor, a poor Catholic maid in service to his parents.
The idea for the festival came when a group of local businessmen met in Harty's bar in Tralee to come up with ideas to encourage more tourists to the town during the horse racing meeting. Led by the late Dan Nolan, managing director of the Kerryman newspaper, they hit on the idea of the Rose of Tralee festival. The competition started in 1959.
The Rose of Tralee festival is now held annually at the end of August in Tralee, County Kerry, to choose a young woman to be crowned the Rose. The winning Rose is the woman deemed to best match the attributes relayed in the song: "lovely and fair". The winner is selected based on her personality and should be a good role model for the festival and for Ireland during her travels around the world. In contrast to beauty pageants, there is no swimwear section in the Rose of Tralee contest.
Each of the 32 counties in Ireland select a Rose and there is also a Rós Fódhla representing the 'gaeltacht' or Irish speaking areas. Regional finals are held in June where six Irish girls are selected to take part in the International Rose of Tralee festival. There are also international Roses chosen from around the world who take part in the International Rose of Tralee festival. Roses from Kerry, Dublin, Cork and Belfast automatically qualify for the festival held in August. The contest, which is broadcast over two nights by RTÉ, was presented by Ray D'Arcy in 2005 and again in 2006. It was previously presented for over twenty years by Gay Byrne. Other previous presenters include Ryan Tubridy, Marty Whelan and Derek Davis. The first presenter of The Rose of Tralee (prior to it being televised) was Kevin Hilton.
[edit] Winners 1959 - 2006
- 1959 - Alice O'Sullivan (Dublin)
- 1960 - Theresa Kenny (Chicago)
- 1961 - Josie Ruane (Cork)
- 1962 - Ciara O'Sullivan (Dublin)
- 1963 - Geraldine FitzGerald (Boston)
- 1964 - Margaret O'Keeffe (Tralee)
- 1965 - Therese Gillespie (Belfast)
- 1966 - Lorraine Stollery (New Zealand)
- 1967 - Anne Foley (Birmingham)
- 1968 - Eileen Slattery (Clare)
- 1969 - Cathy Quinn (Dublin)
- 1970 - Kathy Walshe (Holyoke)
- 1971 - Linda McGreevey (Miami)
- 1972 - Claire Dubendorfer (Switzerland)
- 1973 - Veronica McCambridge (Belfast)
- 1974 - Maggie Flaherty (New York)
- 1975 - Maureen Shannon (London)
- 1976 - Marie Soden (New York)
- 1977 - Orla Burke (Waterford)
- 1978 - Liz Shovlin (Pennsylvania)
- 1979 - Marita Marron (Belfast)
- 1980 - Sheila O'Hanrahan (Galway)
- 1981 - Debbie Carey (Birmingham)
- 1982 - Laura Gainey (Peterborough)
- 1983 - Brenda Hyland (Waterford)
- 1984 - Diane Hannagan (Limerick)
- 1985 - Helena Rafferty (Boston)
- 1986 - Noreen Cassidy (Leeds)
- 1987 - Larna Canoy (Chicago)
- 1988 - Mary Ann Murphy (New Zealand)
- 1989 - Sinead Boyle (Dublin)
- 1990 - Julia Dawson (Germany)
- 1991 - Denise Murphy (Cork)
- 1992 - Niamh Grogan (Galway)
- 1993 - Kirsty Flynn (Midlands UK)
- 1994 - Muirne Hurley (Limerick)
- 1995 - Nyomi Horgan (Perth)
- 1996 - Colleen Mooney (Toronto)
- 1997 - Sinead Lonergan (France)
- 1998 - Mindi O'Sullivan (Galway)
- 1999 - Geraldine O'Grady (Cork)
- 2000 - Roisin Egenton (New York)
- 2001 - Lisa Manning (Perth)
- 2002 - Tamara Gervasoni (Italy)
- 2003 - Orla Tobin (Dublin)
- 2004 - Orla O'Shea (Kilkenny)
- 2005 - Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin (Mayo)
- 2006 - Kathryn Anne Feeney (Queensland.)
[edit] Lyrics to The Rose of Tralee
- The pale moon was rising above the green mountains,
- The sun was declining beneath the blue sea;
- When I strayed with my love by the pure crystal fountain,
- That stands in the beautiful Vale of Tralee.
- She was lovely and fair as the rose of the summer,
- Yet 'twas not her beauty alone that won me;
- Oh no, 'twas the truth in her eyes ever dawning,
- that made me love Mary, the Rose of Tralee.
- The cool shades of evening their mantle were spreading,
- And Mary all smiling was listening to me;
- The moon through the valley her pale rays was shedding,
- When I won the heart of the Rose of Tralee.
- Though lovely and fair as the Rose of the summer,
- Yet 'twas not her beauty alone that won me;
- Oh no, 'twas the truth in her eyes ever dawning,
- that made me love Mary, the Rose of Tralee.
- In the far fields of India, 'mid wars dreadful thunders,
- Her voice was a solace and comfort to me,
- But the chill hand of death has now rent us asunder,
- I'm lonely tonight for the Rose of Tralee.
- She was lovely and fair as the rose of the summer,
- Yet 'twas not her beauty alone that won me;
- Oh no, 'twas the truth in her eyes ever dawning,
- that made me love Mary, the Rose of Tralee.
