Meet Rosie from Ballinderreen. 

On June 11th 2016 Rosie packed up her concertina and headed to Shop Street. She was about to play alongside Mundy and Sharon Shannon as part of the world's biggest ever street performance of Steve Earl's "Galway Girl". Despite being born in Louth, Rosie is a true Galway girl! Growing up Rosie loved to be out with her dad on farms, playing camogie, or playing concertina alongside her brother in the Kilnadema Comhaltas group. She knew she would one day be a vet and she aspired to one day be the Galway Rose. 

While Rosie was in UCD preparing for her final exams in Veterinary Medicine her father entered her into the 2016 Galway Rose search. While it wasn't something she was planning on doing at the time in hindsight the timing was perfect. She was successful in her entry and went on to represent Galway in the Rose of Tralee. Rosie made it to the televised round of judging and enjoyed every minute of the festival. The other 64 Roses have since become her friends and she refers to them as her 'class'. To Rosie the festival represents much more then just a "lovely girls" competition, which it can sometimes be negatively referred to as. To her it is a celebration of family, community, county and country. As she said herself, what other country in the world has people claiming heritage back through the generations just to be part of the celebration. 

After the festival, Rosie decided to fully embrace the opportunity being the Galway Rose has afforded her and decided to defer her career in veterinary for a year. Rosie spent some time working with her Rose sponsor Easyfix in Ballinasloe, and she also worked in a local secondary school, but she also got to enjoy some once in a lifetime opportunities. In the last 12 months Rosie has played live music with some of her idols, travelled to the Vesnova Children’s Mental Asylum in Belarus with Adi Roche and represented Galway in New York during the St Patrick's day parade. Alongside numerous charity events and functions both in Galway and throughout the country Rosie has been busy. Most recently she has been playing music with her brother in America. While the new selection of Galway Rose has already started Rosie isn't worried about handing back her sash. She will now move on with the rest of her "class" and start a new part of her life, but know that she will forever be part of the "Roses" club. Her name, along with her rose-sisters, will be written on the glass "Rose Wall" in the Rose Garden, Tralee. 

We wish Rosie all the best in her future and thank her for representing Galway so well.