Clodagh Finn: It’s not the Hunger Games, it’s not Miss America — it’s our weird, beloved Rose of Tralee

Tralee native Clodagh Finn reflects on the contradictions, criticisms and quiet joys of Ireland’s most divisive cultural celebration
Clodagh Finn: It’s not the Hunger Games, it’s not Miss America — it’s our weird, beloved Rose of Tralee

New Zealand Rose Keely O'Grady was the winner of the 2024 Rose of Tralee. Picture: Domnick Walsh

I can already feel the dread rise up in me as the clock ticks down to another Rose of Tralee festival.

How, in this millennium, can we still have a Lovely Girls contest, to use one of the kinder terms adopted by the sneery naysayers?

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