Kildare Rose Catherine showcases her home county!

Excitement is mounting for the Rathangan woman who will represent Kildare in this year’s Rose of Tralee.

Catherine Cunningham (24) lives in Rathangan and is a caseworker with Turas Nua. She’s the daughter of proud parents Thomas and Kay.

“I think since June, when I was selected to represent Kildare, the whole thing has just went in a blink of an eye,” she told the Kildare Nationalist earlier today. “There’s been so much excitement in the house with all the neighbours, everyone in the community, it's been absolutely brilliant, really, really exciting time.” 

The Lilywhite native had the opportunity to show off some of her home county in recent days, with 32 international Rose of Tralee contestants making a whistle-stop tour of Kildare over two days.

The Roses made their first stop off at Barberstown Castle in Straffan yesterday (Sunday), where they were officially welcomed by the hotel’s General Manager Ted Robinson and Áine Mangan, CEO of Into Kildare. The ladies were presented with Newbridge Silverware St Brigid’s lapel pins to celebrate their visit to the county.

Next, the contestants made their way to the nearby K Club where they enjoyed a ‘cook off’ with The K Club’s Executive Chef Gary O’Hanlon. The K Club are one of the participating hotels and restaurants in this year’s Taste of Kildare Food Festival.

Later in the afternoon the Roses visited Kildare Parish Church where they saw the holy relics of St Brigid which are now on permanent display at the church. The sacred relics of the patron saint of Kildare returned to the county after nearly a millennium in early 2024 and have been visited by thousands of people since they officially went on display.

Brigideen nun Rita Minehan of Solas Bhride and David Mongey, the Chairman of Into Kildare, gave a brief talk about the life of the saint and her relevance in today’s world.

The Roses made their way from the Parish Church to the Square in Kildare town where local schoolchildren presented them with traditional St Brigid’s crosses made from rushes. An artistic activation was next on the schedule where the colours of St Brigid’s famous cloak were brought to life in an art class by local artists from Tribe Art Studio, while Irish dancers from Croi Academy of Irish Dance also performed.

A stop off at the Silken Thomas in Kildare town saw the Roses enjoy traditional music and Guinness cake. Under the expert guidance of Brian Flanagan, Silken Thomas Director, they even got the chance to pour their own pint of the black stuff!

This morning, after a hearty breakfast and restful night’s sleep at Barberstown Castle, the girls headed off to Carton House for a golf clinic with Director of Golf, Liam McCool. They were also treated to a delectable afternoon tea in the sun hosted by Martin Mangan, General Manager and Triona Flood, Commercial Director who were warm and welcoming hosts.

The fun didn’t stop there – following the action on the golf course, the Roses were brought to the home of Irish motor racing, Mondello Park, where they learnt how to drive ‘hot laps’ in BMW M2s. A virtual driving experience, ‘driving’ at full speed in the Driving Experience Simulator, allowed the contestants to view the track through the eyes of a professional racing car driver.

The action-packed itinerary concludes this evening with a glamourous Rose Ball at Barberstown Castle Hotel.

The International Rose of Tralee festival will kick off later this week, running from the Friday 16 to Tuesday 20 August.

“We're heading down to Tralee tomorrow [Tuesday], but then the official welcome is on the Friday, so it'll be so exciting, I'd say everyone in Tralee is so looking forward to us coming down,” Catherine said. “And even yesterday we were getting on the road, but it was like a dream come true, like looking at the bus that you always see pulling into Tralee and now we're actually on it, so it's just going to be incredible seeing everyone and getting off the bus and waving. I can't wait for it all!”