Kildare Rose ready to bloom in Tralee
Kildare Rose Catherine Cunningham and Sr Rita Menihan pictured on a visit to St Brigid's Parish Church in Kildare town. Photo: Domnick Walsh © Eye Focus LTD
The Rathangan woman representing Kildare in this year’s Rose of Tralee will appear on our screens tomorrow (Tuesday 20 August).
Catherine Cunningham (24) is a caseworker with Turas Nua. The daughter of proud parents Thomas and Kay has been a great ambassador for Co Kildare.
She’s down in Kerry with plenty of support from family, friends and neighbours, including brother Tommy who was Rose Escort of the Year in 2023 and is back in the job again this year.
Catherine enjoys exercise, playing cards and a cup of tea with a chat (especially with her dad). She is passionate about her job and how the smallest of actions can have such an impact on others. Her motto in life is ‘you make a living by what you get, you make a life by what you give’.
Several days before the competition the Lilywhite native had the opportunity to show off her home county, as the Rose of Tralee contestants enjoyed a whistle-stop tour of Kildare over two days.
The Roses paid a visit to (and stayed at) Barberstown Castle in Straffan, enjoyed a ‘cook off’ at The K Club with Executive Chef Gary O’Hanlon, and received a warm welcome in Kildare town where they visited the relics of St Brigid in Kildare Parish Church and were presented with traditional St Brigid’s crosses (made from rushes) by local schoolchildren at the square.
The Roses also had the opportunity to drive hot laps behind the wheel of a BMW M2 at Mondello Park and finished their action-packed itinerary with a glamourous Rose Ball at Barberstown Castle Hotel.
“I think since June, when I was selected to represent Kildare, the whole thing has just went in a blink of an eye. There’s been so much excitement in the house with all my neighbours, everyone in the community, it's been absolutely brilliant, really, really exciting time,” Catherine told the .
Last year’s New York Rose Róisín Wiley, who won the Rose of Tralee in 2023 and, incidentally, visited Athy earlier this year, has met the Roses and shared some advice and insight.
“She was telling us all about her year as the Rose of Tralee and what to expect and what to take from the experience,” Catherine said. “She was really just saying to enjoy it and I think that definitely is the main thing because it's all going so quick that you're trying to take everything in and just savour the moments.”
