LAST UPDATE | 23 Aug 2023
RÓISÍN WILEY, A 27-year-old New Yorker, has been named Rose of Tralee for 2023.
Wiley, who had been the bookies’ favourite ahead of the announcement, was selected by a three-person panel of former Rose of Tralee Nicola Dunne, RTÉ weather reporter Nuala Carey, and radio broadcaster Ollie Turner.
The judging panel has spent the past week getting to know the Roses as they toured the country.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland today, Wiley said: “I was absolutely shocked to hear my name. I don’t think it fully registered for a few minutes until after.”
She said the other roses had been “unbelievably supportive” of her victory and that one of her priorities for the coming year will be “representing these 31 other women.”
“It’s not just about me, but about my full class of sisters.”
Wiley was one of the 14 contestants who took to the stage in the Kerry Sports Academy on the second Selection Night of the festival. She is the first Rose to win the title while based outside of Ireland since 2016.
Asked about criticism of the contest, she said: “Being a participant in this festival has empowered me more than anything I’ve ever done in my life.
“There is an element of of judging, but in that process, we’re just truly told to be ourselves and that will be the most important part in determining if you’re fit to to to wear the sash.”
Wiley works as a VP of National Sales at Neptune Retail Solutions in New York City.
Speaking to press after her victory, Wiley said: “As an Irish-American in New York with the name Róisín, the first conversation I have with most people is about being Irish, so I feel like I’ve been an ambassador for Ireland my whole life.”
Speaking to RTÉ ahead of the festival, Wiley said: “My parents, Eddie and Majella, were born and raised in Co Limerick. My mom is from Templeglantine, and my dad is from Kilmallock. They emigrated to NYC in their 20s and built an amazing life for my younger brother John and I in Westchester, NY.”
Wiley becomes the fourth New York Rose to win the Rose of Tralee in the history of the festival. Previous winners from the Big Apple include Maggie Flaherty in 1974, Marie Soden in 1976, Roisin Egenton in 2000, and Lisa Murtagh in 2007.
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