60 years of Rose of Tralee Winners

Sixty years on, and dozens of roses, frocks and party pieces later, the Rose of Tralee International Festival has returned to the Kingdom writes Jess Casey. Love it or loathe it, the annual festival has seen both its ups and downs through its long history, including a televised proposal, financial woes, a gatecrashing priest and a potential boycott.

With its roots in a local pageant by the name of ‘The Carnival Queen’, the Rose of Tralee as we know it was devised in the 1950s by a group of local business people looking for a novel way to attract ex-pats home.