Just don’t call it a beauty pageant

A WOMAN’S world was a different place when Alice O’Sullivan was crowned the first Rose of Tralee representing Dublin in 1959.

An innocent and reserved 19-year-old, she found the experience surreal and the attention embarrassing. Now in her 70s, she retains her trademark curls, a picture of beauty in her enduring modesty and gentle poise.

Alice is refreshing in her honest account of the first festival, which evolved originally from Tralee’s Carnival Queen event, reorganised and resurrected by a group of local business people after a decade of decline.

She recalls fires lighting on the Kerry border as the Roses were ferried to Tralee.

“I was entered into it; we had Kerry connections and my dad was from Tralee. There was a dance in Dublin and that was the selection process, but it was a much bigger affair than I expected,” she said.

Taking the title, she was presented with a tiara and a keepsake watch and catapulted into the spot light. “I found it very surreal. Suddenly I was the centre of attention. It was all a bit overwhelming,” she said.

Her parents were obviously delighted and her mum collected every scrap of news coverage she could find. But Alice today remains true to her 19-year-old self. She agreed to judge contestants for the 50th anniversary title, but outside of that she keeps a low profile as the world’s first Rose of Tralee.

“As a judge I was amazed at the sheer professionalism I saw, the confidence and positivity of woman after woman. Oh my God, it was light years away from what I was at 19,” she said

Alice, in her quiet, delicate manner, became the first member of a unique club that will welcome its 52nd member this year. The ‘special sisterhood’ extends to include all selected Roses, be they winners or not, they form part of the family. Routinely criticised for being an outdated class of a beauty pageant, the Rose remains what it always has been, a showcase of cailíní deas, awkward or elegant, smiling and singing, presented in their finest rig outs.

The bond is formed out of the act of bravery that sets these women apart. They stand up every year to face the judges and perform.

Their motivation might be mysterious, but the aftermath — away from the headlines — unveils a world of loyal friendships, a proud affiliation and an excuse to meet up regularly and indulge in some heady nostalgia.

Try as you might to find the bitch in the group, or spot a steely jealous glance, no such thing exists. Here is a group of women spanning 50 years of Rose of Tralee history that celebrates each member equally.

Anne Tighe, Bermingham Rose 1967, giggles helplessly as she recalls handing the American First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, wife of President Lyndon Johnson, a box of lace handkerchiefs as a present.

“They sent me to Washington after I won and the First Lady gave me a tour of the White House, I have a letter from her since. I had a box of lace hankies made by the nuns. Can you imagine? She was charming and wonderful but I was so green, I was the worst possible person to send there,” she laughs.

Gathered for a lunch event in honour of Jose Ruane Murphy, the Cork Rose celebrating the 50th anniversary of her title, the ladies share stories that never made the press.

Hosted at the elegant Carrigaline home of Denise Murphy, the 1991 Cork Rose, they sit beneath a stained glass window adorned fittingly with a rose, the handiwork of Denise’s husband and a tribute to her title.

Veronica McCambridge, the Belfast Rose of 1973, married her escort and was six weeks pregnant handing over the crown. “We met and fell in love and got engaged that Christmas. We were married the following April. So the Rose of Tralee transformed my life,” she said.

Brenda Hyland, the Waterford Rose of 1983, who took the title with a stylish short bob at age 21, caused furore among her fellow trainee guards at Templemore and recalls falling madly in love with a colleague ‘for a while.’

Cathy Murphy (née Quinn) mingled with the stars on a tour of the Ryan’s Daughter film set after she was crowned Rose in 1969 representing Dublin at the tender age of 20. She and her mother had to persuade her father to allow her to enter because he thought it was a ‘just a beauty pageant’ and disapproved.

A second year student nurse at the time, she travelled to Tralee with 18 other contestants for the party that ‘went on all night.’

“Tralee was choc-a-bloc. It was a huge big deal. The atmosphere was wonderful, no nastiness. Terry Wogan was delightful. And today the group is still as charming as ever; it’s an amazing group of women, just a lovely atmosphere,” she said.

The atmosphere turns emotional when ‘mother of the roses’ Josie is called to make her speech. She recalls how the ‘sixties sisters’ fostered relationships that members of the press were unwilling or unable to accept.

“The sixties girls were the foundation of the Rose family, we were all extremely close. The press just didn’t get the relationship. All the girls phoned often to talk to me and we still keep in touch,” she said. “We have built up friendships that will last forever.”

Now a mother to three grown boys, one girl and grandmother of one, Josie’s spell as the Rose of Tralee led her to a career that literally changed the lives of Irish women.

“I was demonstrating the use of washing machines with Hoover, showing people how to use them, and initially they would come just out of curiosity. They really sold well and it was great, it changed peoples’ lives, especially for mothers,” she said.

Josie’s tears reflect the close ties from her experience of the Rose of Tralee. “Words can’t express how fantastic this day is. The friendships are amazing,” she said. So maybe the magic lies a little deeper than we outsiders might think, perhaps in the song lyrics that inspired this sisterhood.

“Oh no ‘twas the truth in her eyes ever dawning

That made me love Mary, the Rose of Tralee.”

* The 2011 Rose festival takes place from August 19-23.