The 66th annual Rose of Tralee International Festival is set to kick off this weekend, starting on Friday August 15. 32 Roses have descended onto Kerry where they will vie for the prestigious title of the Rose of Tralee.

The televised rose selections will take place on Monday August 18 and Tuesday August 19 at the Kerry Sports Academy, co-hosted by TV personalities Dáithí Ó Sé and Kathryn Thomas.

The judges for this year’s competition are Cork woman Aisling Murphy, Clare Kambamettu, who is a former Rose of Tralee, fashion designer Don O’Neill and RTE weather woman Nuala Carey.

The winner of the 2024 Rose of Tralee was New Zealand rose Keely O’Grady.

There are three Roses with Killarney connections in the competition this year, along with our Kerry Rose who hails from Tralee.

SHANNON EMERY – PHILADELPHIA.

Shannon Emery is representing Philadelphia in this year’s Rose of Tralee. Born and raised in the city, she works as a high school Special Education teacher. She is passionate about empowering young women. She co-founded a girls support group to help her students to build confidence and community. Shannon has strong family ties to East Kerry in the Barraduff / Lisbabe area. Her grandmother emigrated from Kerry to America in the 1920s and over a century later, Shannon remains proudly connected to her East Kerry roots.

MAEVE KELLY – BOSTON AND NEW ENGLAND.

A native of Massachusetts, Maeve’s maternal grandparents hail from Killarney. Maeve also has family ties in Tralee where she spent many summers growing up. Her father moved to Boston in his 20s and her family has resided there ever since. She works as a mental health counsellor and hopes to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner through night courses. Maeve’s belief is that it is never too late to change your path. By following your heart, the rest will fall into place.

NANCY LEHANE – CORK.

Residing over the county bounds, Nancy lives in the highest village in Ireland, Meelin. She is 22 years old. Nancy used to work in the International Hotel in Killarney. She is a primary school teacher and plays multiple instruments such as the guitar, piano, concertina and tin whistle. Teaching has always been a dream of hers and music has been a huge part of her life since she was five years old. She plays Gaelic football with her local club and loves sport. Nancy is the favourite to win the competition; her odds are 3/1, according to Boyle Sports.

LAURA DALY – KERRY

Our Kerry rose is Laura Daly from Ballymacelligott, located on the outskirts of Tralee. Laura is a teacher and owns a dance school called LD Dance which blends her love of teaching and dance together. She is hoping to become a secondary school teacher, having been accepted to begin a Master’s in Education recently. Laura has grown up around the Rose of Tralee, she danced in the parades as a little girl and volunteered as she grew older. For Laura, being the Kerry rose is a special, full circle moment. She is the second favourite to win the competition with her odds coming in at 5/1 from Boyle Sports.