‘I wanted to be a Rose longer than I wanted to be a doctor’

Newly crowned Rose of Tralee Jennifer Byrne wanted to become a Rose longer than she wanted to be a doctor.

The junior doctor at the emergency department of Galway University Hospital revealed that a trip to the festival, when she was aged 12, sealed her fate and, ever since, she has wanted to take part in the festival.

“I just wanted to be a Rose. I never dreamed I’d be the Rose of Tralee. It was even surreal for me to be the Offaly Rose,” the 24-year-old told the Irish Examiner.