Rose who won hearts of nation welcomed home
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After the formal on-stage part of the homecoming reception for Caoilfhinn Ní Choiligh, 2026 Rose of Tralee, in Mullingar town centre on Friday evening, the Roses present to support Caoilfhinn and others went for the classic photo at the Joe Dolan statue. Caoilfhinn then spent the best part of an hour chatting people and having photos taken with them. Photo: Andrea BradyImage 2 of 8
Caoimhe Hannon, Jayne Anne Duffy, Claudia Grealish, Caoimhe Reilly and Jo-Jo Quinn at the welcoming reception for Caoilfhinn on Friday evening.Image 3 of 8
Mia, Jake, Sarah, Hannah and Clive Walsh.Image 4 of 8
Caoilfhinn removed her wig on stage in Mullingar on Friday, acknowledging the moments she performed the same action on TV on Monday evening of last week.Image 5 of 8
Caoilfhinn, Ollie Mulvey and Rachel Duffy, 2022 Rose of Tralee.Image 6 of 8
Caoilfhinn with Clodagh, Emily, Yvette and Julia.Image 7 of 8
Caoilfhinn with Theodore Gilsenan and Sophia Gilsenan, 2026 Derry Rosebud.Image 8 of 8
Caoilfhinn with fellow Westmeath Rose contenders Emma Cleary and Molly Galvin.“The last couple of days don’t seem real, it’s been like 10 years in 10 minutes,” the 2026 International Rose of Tralee, Caoilfhinn Ní Choiligh, told the crowd who gathered to welcome her home to Mullingar on Friday evening.
Caoilfhinn won the hearts of the nation on Monday of last week when she spoke about living with alopecia areata, while stunning the audiences in Tralee and on RTÉ TV in a glittering gown that she rented from ‘The Dress Collective’ in her home town.
Speaking on Friday, she said: “From the moment I started the tour, it wasn’t long enough, and backstage with the girls beside me, I was thinking I just don’t want this to end… I’m eating those words up now!
“I was on the stage with such an amazing group of girls – maybe I’m biased, but I think our year was probably the highest calibre of girls that I’ve ever met. Every girl I’ve talked to, they were so lovely, they were so accomplished.
“I owe them and I’m very lucky to have a lot of them here tonight – they’re here to support me even now.”
Caoilfhinn, in comments later echoed by the Escort of the Year, Gavin Brady, who was also in Mullingar for the homecoming, said there is “a bit of a misconception sometimes” about the Rose of Tralee Festival, about what it really means. “I think it’s all about women supporting women, it’s about celebrating what makes us different in our accomplishments, and I just think, wow, girls are amazing, and I’m very proud to have theses girls now as my Rose sisters.”
There was a party atmosphere on Pearse Street for the Rose homecoming. The traditional lorry trailer was set up as a stage opposite the Greville Arms Hotel, and though the light shower early on had people hugging the buildings for shelter, the other Roses lifted the mood when they stated dancing to Galway Girl in the middle of the road.
Traffic was light enough at that hour, and the local gardaí were on duty to close the street when the star of the evening arrived in the official Rose of Tralee Kia EV6.
The crowd flowed across the street to welcome Caoilfhinn, escorted in by her partner Artur Karolewski, and awaiting her on stage were other members of her family, the other Westmeath Rose of Tralee (from 2022), Rachel Duffy, last year’s Rose of Tralee, Katelyn Cummins, Escort of the Year, Gavin Brady, and Caoilfhinn’s Rose Buddy Paddy MacNamara, who is from Ballyconneely in Galway and whose father is from Westmeath (see separate story).
Tony Brophy was on the music, and Steve Cronly, director of operations with the Rose of Tralee International Festival, was MC for the evening.
A midlands man (from Tullamore), Steve asked Caoilfhinn what went through her head in the moment her name was called out as Rose of Tralee. Her response was that she wondered if they said the right name “because my name’s a bit difficult”, but they said Westmeath first, so I knew it was me.
The other Roses then surrounded her on the stage, and her thoughts turned to what the year ahead would hold. There are a lot of unknowns, she said, but she has some definite ideas. She acknowledge Katelyn and Rachel, and said: “I have two amazing girls in my locality that I can lean on whenever I want.
“There’s something in the water in the midlands, we’re a great bunch, we really are.
“I’m looking forward to sleeping for the next 10 days and then getting into the nitty-gritty of what I have to do, and there’s a lot I want to focus on.”
She discussed how there is so much more to the Rose of Tralee Festival than viewers see on TV or on social media, and said Rose the visits to nursing homes were particularly important, “seeing that older generation and how much the Rose meant to them and how we’re carrying the torch”.