2016 Clare Rose of Tralee Leah Kenny officially launched the search to find this year’s Banner County representative for the Rose of Tralee International Festival in August this year.
The fashion blogging primary school teacher remembers fondly the last year as the reigning Clare Rose, especially the little nudge of encouragement she was given which resulted in one of the best years of her life.
“The Rose of Tralee has definitely been one of the best experiences of my life so far. It has been an incredible journey and created lifelong memories and friendships! Although it is bittersweet that my year is coming to an end, I would absolutely recommend applying for the Clare Rose selection this April to anyone who is thinking about it”
Leah said: “I know it’s daunting to put yourself out there in public the but it was something I had always thought about doing, and it took a little supporting nudge from a friend and the support of my family to finally get me to fill out the form! Looking back now, I am so glad that I took that leap of faith because I have learned so much over the last 12 months and made friends for life. I appeal to everybody across the county to offer that bit of encouragement to a friend, a sister, a daughter or a work colleague that may need help to take the hardest step of the process and apply today.”
The selection is open to all females between 18 and 27, who are of Irish ancestry or citizenship, be unmarried or never been married and who would like to represent County Clare.
The Coordinator of the Clare Rose of Tralee events, Ciarán O’Connell said: “Leah has been a wonderful Rose and a fantastic ambassador for County Clare, not only in the Dome last August but at the many local, national, international events and reunions she has attended as our proud Clare Rose.
We are reaching out to all the Clubs and Parishes of the county; north, south, east and west to ask you to nominate or suggest a local lady to come forward and take the first step of this once in a lifetime experience while representing your local area, town, village or business.
In return, you will have the honour of seeing your young lady proudly promote her best qualities, gain confidence, presence and energy in a fun environment, while you also get to attend a great night at the live selection event on Saturday the 8th of April at the Inn at Dromoland and possibly in the Dome in August!”
In further great news for the 2017 Rose selections, whoever is picked as the 2017 Clare Rose in April will travel via the Rose tour to the international festival in Tralee in August and will take part in all the parades, Rose Ball, public engagements and a private qualifying event at the festival, from which 32 Roses will be chosen to appear in the live selection broadcasts.
All interested ladies willing to enter can find more info on WWW.ROSEOFTRALEE.IE/APPLY or find the “clarerosecentre” on all social media. Closing date for entries is the 19th of March.
The selection day will be Saturday the 8th of April at the Inn at Dromoland with a pre-event Rose Information evening on Sunday the 5th and/or 12th March of March 5 -7pm at the Inn at Dromoland, Newmarket on Fergus.