The first Rose of Tralee

In 1959, Tralee, in Ireland, hosted a festival to promote the town and build Irish connections around the world.

It became known as the Rose of Tralee and is now one of Ireland’s oldest and largest festivals, as well as one of the most watched TV programmes.

Last year, more than 30 international ‘roses’ or contestants took part, including representatives from Toronto, Sydney and Dubai.

Rachel Naylor speaks to the first woman to be crowned the Rose of Tralee, an unofficial ambassador of Ireland, Alice O’Sullivan, from Dublin.

(Photo: Alice O'Sullivan at the Rose of Tralee in 1959. Credit: George Doyle, Paudi Cronin (Neustock Media). From Kerry County Museum’s photo library, created with support from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht through their 2020 Audience Engagement Fund)