No Limerick Rose but plenty of Treaty connections at this year's festival

THERE MAY be no Limerick Rose at the Rose of Tralee this year but there are plenty of ladies with connections to the Treaty County to cheer on.

The reigning Limerick Rose will hand over hew crown this year after an "unprecedented term" since winning in 2019. 

Sinead Flanagan won the festival three years ago in what was the last competition before the world went into lockdown, and became the 60th International Rose of Tralee.

The longest serving Rose will hand back the baton at the festival which will see a new winner crowned this week.

There is no Limerick Rose in the competition this year and there appears to be an element of mystery surrounding the lack of representative. 

It seems that no selection process took place for this year's festival and therefore Limerick will not be represented in Tralee. 

Several efforts were made by the Limerick Leader to contact the Limerick Rose centre however, there was no response. 

Despite the lack of Limerick Rose, a number of participants have connections to the county including Ohio Rose Sarah McInerney, a Clare native and granddaughter of Bridie and Paddy Malone from Collinstown, Bruff. 

Kildare Rose Ashleigh Byrne studied Sculpture and Combined Media at Limerick School of Art and Design and now works as an artist.

Katie McAteer who will be flying the flag for Donegal studied Journalism and New Media at the University of Limerick now works in Public Relations and Social Media.

Galway Rose Clare Ann Irwin studied Primary School teaching and Psychology at Mary Immaculate College and taught for three years before joining her family's funeral business in Galway City. 

In Pictures: International Roses bloom in Limerick before heading to Tralee for festival

Aisling O'Donovan, this year's Tipperary Rose, received a Bachelor of Education degree from Mary Immaculate College and now works as an Assistant Principal. 

Last week on a visit to her a hometown, current Limerick Rose Sinead Flanagan spoke about her experience representing her county at the prestigious event.

"A highlight for me was getting involved in local charities in Limerick and indeed international charities such as the Hope Foundation and Chernobyl Children International and going to India and Belarus. I was extremely fortunate to see first-hand the amazing work they do". 

Even though Ms Flanagan will miss her time as Rose of Tralee saying: "It’s a part of the journey to hand over your crown and your sash to the next deserving lady so I’m really looking forward to doing that on Tuesday". 

The Rose of Tralee will be televised live tonight and tomorrow, Tuesday on RTE One from 8pm.