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Traditional beauty pageant battles to keep pace in modern Ireland
As the Rose of Tralee beauty pageant concluded this week, the contestants in colourful ball gowns swayed as they sang the 19th-century ballad that inspired the competition.
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Rose of Tralee winner Rachel Duffy (C) from Westmeath smiles on stage during the Rose of Tralee live show in Tralee Co. Kerry, Ireland on August 23, 2022. (AFP/Paul Faith)
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s the Rose of Tralee beauty pageant concluded this week, the contestants in colourful ball gowns and silk sashes swayed as they sang the 19th-century ballad that inspired the competition.
"She was lovely and fair as the rose of the summer," they sang as this year's winner was paraded through the town in County Kerry, southwest Ireland, which gave the contest its name.
When all 33 contestants departed the stage, fireworks burst overhead and ticker tape ribbon fell from the sky.
The beauty pageant returned to Tralee and Ireland's living rooms after a two-year absence due to Covid restrictions to fanfare from its legions of fans.
But critics have raised questions about the pageant's relevance in modern Ireland and the diversity of its contestants, not least because of the show's all-white line up for 2022.
Created in 1959, the Rose of Tralee draws contestants, known as "roses", from across Ireland and around the world from the Irish diaspora.
All of them are winners of local selections that draw thousands of participants.
