Tipp's Tara backed to win Rose of Tralee Crown
Tipperary Rose of Tralee, Tara Brady has received huge support from punters to win this year’s Rose of Tralee, writes Anna Powell. Tara is currently at 7/1 to win the crown, according to Ladbrokes!
Being crowned Rose of Tralee 2024 would be an immense honour for Ballina native Tara Brady. “It would just be an honour to get the opportunity to represent the group that are here for the Rose of Tralee 2024 because they are the most superb, kind, funny, supportive, intelligent and accomplished ladies, so to get the opportunity to represent them would be pretty much out of this world,” commented Tara.
Aged 23, Tara is a masters degree student in public history and cultural heritage at University of Limerick. Alongside having a huge passion for Irish culture and the preservation of Irish traditions, our Tipperary Rose has a grá for Irish dancing and Irish music. Tara is one of four members of an Irish traditional music girlband called Cailíní Lua.
Although favoured to win the competition, it was Tara’s love for Irish culture and the inspiring accomplishments of so many Irish women that prompted her to get involved in the Rose of Tralee, which has been a part of Irish society since 1959.
CELEBRATE IRISH WOMEN AND CULTURE
“You don’t kind of get involved for that reason. I think you get involved, for me personally anyway, to just meet other Irish women who kind of have similar interests, similar ambitions, to celebrate Irish culture and history and to celebrate each other as Irish women who have achieved so much and who plan to achieve so much more, you almost forget there is a representative selected at the end,” reflected Tara on the experience.
“The competition element doesn’t really feature, we are just really enjoying the week with each other, having the crack, making friends and making new memories, it has been the most extraordinary experience,” commented Tara on her experience as a Rose so far in this year’s festival.
Before the televised version of the Rose of Tralee airs worldwide, each Rose gets to take part in a national Rose tour which takes place across Ireland. Not only does this tour celebrate Irish history and culture, but it also gives each of the Roses a chance to get to know one another. Each of the 32 Roses represent the Irish diaspora from the counties in Ireland, the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and beyond. Tara will be interviewed on Tuesday Rose of Tralee Show on RTE1.
“What the public get to see is maybe one small snippet of what the whole festival is about. We get a couple minutes on stage which is fantastic and its great entertainment and that’s a fantastic element of it too but that really is only a snippet of what we actually get to do on the Rose tour,” noted Tara Brady.
“Everything is such a surprise from one moment to the next. There has been so many activities I can’t even name them all but to be honest with you, each moment has been better than the last,” added Tara Brady on all the fun she has had on the Rose Tour as Tipperary Rose of Tralee.
WORD OF THANKS
During an interview with the Nenagh Guardian, Tara made sure to take the time to thank her local community in Ballina and the wider community of Tipperary for their outstanding support throughout her journey as Tipperary Rose. “I don’t think I will ever forget the feeling. You know being sent to represent your county on an international level and to feel like a community and your county is behind you is not something I ever kind of expected to get to do and I can’t believe that I do get to do it, so I would just like to thank them for that, the community spirit has been fantastic,” praised Tara.