Westmeath Rose looking forward to Tralee trip

Síofra Grant

Caoilfhinn Ní Choiligh has a big week ahead of her as the much anticipated Rose of Tralee festival fast approaches.

Caoilfhinn was named the new Westmeath Rose in June of this year and has inspired many with the story of her alopecia diagnosis, which she still lives with to this day.

She said she’d been running around all week trying to get everything ready for the big day – however, in true Rose fashion she was kind enough to take the time on Friday to chat about her preparations.

“I’m pretty excited today,” she begins, “the last couple days I was talking to some of the other Roses, we’re all in the same boat and getting a bit nervous – more so just overwhelmed with the packing and forgetting, thinking that we’re going to forget something.

“But now with two days out, I’m leaving Sunday morning, I think I’m more prepared and I feel like I can actually enjoy this now and start this whole Rose journey before we start our tour.”

The tour is a staple of the Rose experience and the festival. Every Rose climbs into a bus and travels to various areas across the country. Where they go is a mystery.

“It’s a bit of a secret for us at the moment so I can’t wait for those experiences.

“Overall I wanted to do this Rose experience and the Rose of Tralee to make friends.

“It’s so hard to make friends in your mid-20s when you’re living in a small town, living at home, to make friends and make time for our friends.

“I wanted to meet like-minded people, whether it was during my Westmeath selection night with those girls, who are all amazing, or these now selected Roses from their counties.

“And to have friends all over the world because there are girls from New Zealand, from America, from London, everywhere.

“It’s going to be really nice having connections with the diaspora and Irish community worldwide.

Caoilfhinn met some of the international Roses during their visit to the Galway Races.

During the conversation with the Westmeath Examiner, which took place in Mullingar Town Park, an older woman approaches her excitedly and they shake hands and get to talking.

During the conversation it’s easy to understand why Caoilfhinn was chosen to take on the Westmeath Rose mantle, as she converses with the woman with a warm smile on her face and a pure unfettered openness about her.

As the lady head off, Caoilfhinn explains how the support from the community is one of her favourite parts of being a Rose. “Being from Mullingar, I’m very much intertwined with the community and the things that I do and that’s what I wanted to do as a Rose, and be a real grassroots, salt of the earth type of girl because that’s what I am.

“I work in a shop in town, I do bits in town, you’ll see me pottering along and I just feel so normal.

“So then when people do come up to me I do the very Irish thing of playing it down and saying it’s amazing but trying not to give myself credit because I’m just a girl.

“I’m just someone who is on this mad journey. I’m going to make the most of it and I suppose try to bring the feeling than anyone can be a Rose to this experience, and let people know not to doubt yourself, like you could be an amazing Rose, you could have all the Rose qualities all you have to be is yourself.

“It’s surreal to think that I’m now going to be one of the girls I watched on telly all those years ago.”