Westmeath Rose enjoys St Patrick’s Day in New York

As she looks forward to the first anniversary of being crowned Westmeath Rose, Rachel Duffy says she has had many “pinch me” moments over the nine months since she became the 2022 Rose of Tralee in August.

Walking up New York’s iconic 5th Avenue in one of the world’s biggest St Patrick’s Day parades last month was another of those. “The whole experience was just surreal,” said the soft-spoken Rosemount native, “and to be able to have my Dad take part in the parade as well was the icing on the cake.”

Rachel said the opportunity to attend a special Mass in St Patrick’s Cathedral on 5th Avenue before the parade was “something very special”.

“I wouldn’t be overly religious or anything, but the Mass was just such a beautiful experience, it’s actually hard to describe, it was a bit like going to see a show, Emmet Cahill sang at it, and for me it was really a once in a lifetime experience.”

St Patrick’s Cathedral, which seats 2,400 people, is one of New York’s most famous landmarks, and tickets for the St Patrick’s Day Mass are like gold dust. “If I wasn’t the Rose of Tralee, I wouldn’t be at that Mass, so it was really special for that reason alone, but I also managed to get a ticket for my Dad to attend the Mass, so that was really special for both of us.”

She was joined at the Mass by a number of Rose contestants from last year’s competition, along representatives of the Irish American community in the US and also visitors from Ireland, including Tánaiste Micheál Martin.

On St Patrick’s morning Rachel accompanied New York Rose, Cathrena Collins, and Escort of the Year from the 2022 Rose competition, Shane McHugh, to Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side for breakfast with the mayor of New York, Eric Adams. They were greeted, at 6am, by a stunning sunrise over Manhattan as they made their way to Gracie Mansion, and among the unconventional dishes on the menu at such an early hour were Shepherd’s pies, savoury curry and Irish coffees.

Rachel described the breakfast as “lovely, but different” and said she met a lot of US Senators and prominent members of the Irish American community, as well as the Tánaiste and Miss Immigrant USA for 2023, Lana Tu from Vietnam.

“We had some downtime before the parade, which was great because we were all really tired after the early breakfast, so I took advantage of the time to have a little nap,” laughed Rachel.

Walking in the St Patrick’s Day parade with fellow Roses and their escorts was an unforgettable experience and one of the things that surprised Rachel most was how the thousands of spectators along the route were prepared to “stand for hours and hours” to see the entire parade.

“There was a great gang out from Rosemount and other parts of Westmeath for the parade so we got a huge welcome and there was lot of waving and good craic along the route,” she said.

Having completed her official Rose of Tralee duties on St Patrick’s Day, Rachel was “a proper tourist” and visited several New York attractions.

“We also went to visit family in North Carolina and when I was there I went to visit the University of North Caroline Chapel Hill, where I did a semester exchange in 2019, but they didn’t really understand the whole Rose of Tralee – one of them asked me if it was like being the Queen of Ireland!”

Last week Rachel launched a fundraising appeal, 100k in 30 days, on behalf of the Marie Keating Foundation, and said she was delighted to be an ambassador for the foundation, as it gave her the opportunity to raise awareness about breast cancer and to highlight the devastating impact the disease had on her own family.

“I will be raising money for the Marie Keating Foundation throughout the month of June,” she said.

The Rosemount native returns to the Big Apple in May to celebrate the achievements of Westmeath GAA over the last year at the annual dinner of the association in the city and to meet Westmeath people who have made their home in the New York area.