THE 2014 Rose of Tralee is Maria Walsh, representing Philadelphia, after RTÉ’s Dáithí Ó Sé announced the outcome in front of nearly one million television viewers and an audience of 2000 people in the Festival Dome last night.
Maria Walsh (27) is the first Philadelphia Rose to take the title and she was presented with her sash and tiara by the 2013 Rose of Tralee, Haley O’Sullivan and David Doyle from Newbridge Silverware, lead sponsors of the Festival.
Maria, who works as a studio manager for a clothing and lifestyle brand in Philadelphia, said: “I am extremely blessed to receive this wonderful honour in the company of 31 high calibre, beautiful, intelligent and hard-working women. We’ve had an extraordinary time in Tralee and great friendships have been formed.”
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Maria moved to the south Mayo village of Shrule in 1994. She studied Journalism and Visual Media in Griffith College Dublin and graduated in 2009 before venturing to the Big Apple in early 2010. She moved to Philadelphia in late 2011.
Maria is a Studio Manager for Anthropologie, a clothing and lifestyle brand but she joked about being a little concerned about how the outcome of last night’s outcome selection might be greeted by her employer.
“I’m not going to lie, but when my name was announced I thought to myself ‘my boss is not going to be very happy’. When I went for this trip, my boss said, ‘don’t come back with the crown’. Nonetheless, I’m looking forward to spending the next 12 months encouraging women of Irish origin and descent to take part in this wonderful Festival.”
Maria’s parents are Noreen and Vincent, she has two brothers – Kevin and Michael – and a sister, Eileen and, being an avid Mayo Gaelic football fan is particularly looking forward to next Sunday’s All-Ireland Semi-final against Kerry.
She is a Pioneer and a member of the Glencorrib Center since she was twelve and she has volunteered for many years with the Pioneer Association and No Name Club, two organizations that focus on the development of our young people.
In addition to the honour becoming the 2014 Rose of Tralee, Maria has won a prize package that includes a treasure trove of Newbridge Jewellery and Homeware, a €25,000 World Travel Prize sponsored by The Loop at Dublin and Cork Airports and a year’s driving in the new Kia Soul worth €25,000 from Kia and McElligotts of Tralee.
This year’s Rose of Tralee International Festival kicked-off on Friday August 15th and around 200,000 people were in Tralee over the course of the five-day Festival, the highlights of which were Union J, Walking on Cars, three parades, two fireworks displays and an airshow.
The Street Carnival in the town centre was complimented by the Dome events that included Nathan Carter, the sell-out 1100 capacity Rose Ball, two Rose selection nights and The Kerryman Fashion Show which was attended by nearly 1600 people.
The General Manager of the Rose of Tralee International Festival, Oliver Hurley, commended the local business community and the dedication of the team of 150 volunteers who worked tirelessly to deliver a top class event to people of all ages.
Planning for the 2015 Rose of Tralee International Festival will get underway in the coming weeks and the dates for next year’s event are set to be confirmed in September.
Applications are now being accepted to become Roses in 2015 and full details are available from www.roseoftralee.ie.
