Rose of Tralee ‘a super celebration of women’

On this day 56 years ago, the very first Rose of Tralee, Alice O’Sullivan, was crowned.

But what has changed in the last five-and-a-half decades of the world-renowned festival? Not much, according to Alice, it’s still Kerry’s most famous spectacle and continues to draw thousands of people, year after year.

With a twinkle in her eye, 75-year-old Alice remembers how, even in its first iteration, the competition attracted a huge amount of attention.