The winner of the Rose of Tralee will bag a list of lavish prizes, but the cherry on the cake must be the €25,000 travel bursary.
The winning Rose has a year to make the most of the fund and can decide how to spend it, although with stipulations.
Organisers say the 2025 winner will use the money to represent the Rose of Tralee International Festival and help connect the global Irish community throughout the year.
The ultimate itinerary is at the discretion of the winner – for example 2024 Rose Keely O’Grady travelled to Chicago for St Patrick’s Day, to Wellington for the New Zealand Irish Dance Championships and to Poland to volunteer at the Happy Kids Foundation orphanage.
RM Block
The 2023 winner, New York Rose Róisín Wiley, used her fund to attend the ploughing championship.
Boasting perhaps the most intensive year of travel, Maria Walsh, the 2014 Rose of Tralee who is now an MEP, worked five days a week in Philadelphia and flew back to Ireland every weekend from August 2014 to January 2015.
She also met former US president Barack Obama at the White House for St Patrick’s Day in 2015.
[ Rose of Tralee 2025 Review Opens in new window ]
Current judge Dr Clare Kambamettu travelled to India twice during her tenure as reigning Rose of Tralee in 2010.
This year the winning Rose will also drive away from the competition in a new Kia Niro plug-in hybrid SUV worth more than €40,000. The only catch is she will have to give it back at the end of the 12 months.
Then there is an all-expenses-paid week-long trip around the Kingdom, with stops including Killarney and Dingle for her and a friend. The costs are covered by Kerry County Council, although it is unclear if she will have to perform Rose duties as part of this trip.
The 2025 winner will also receive complimentary accommodation for her and a friend at the Meadowlands Hotel, Tralee, every time she returns to the town during the year of her reign. The four-star hotel is the home to the Roses for the duration of the festival.
Another official partner of the festival, the Brush ‘N’ Blush hair and beauty group, will style the victor’s hair free for the upcoming year any time she is in Tralee.
The prize for escort of the year is a much more humble affair at €1,000 in cash, not even covering the €2,000 application fee.
However, for 2025 escort of the year, Andy Rodgers, the experience has been completely worthwhile.
“It’s about making connections and meeting new people. It has just been amazing,” the Dubliner said.
“Partly my reason for applying was to show Sophia, my 10-year-old daughter, that you can take a leap our of your comfort zone.”
Reflecting on the role of an escort, Mr Rodgers said: “It’s definitely hard work. It’s the long days that are the hardest part of it. Looking after the Roses is the easiest part.”
Of course, he said, the experiences of the escorts were not as important as those of the Roses.
“I have Ceiline [O’Meara] the UAE Rose and she was excellent,” he said. “She made my job so easy. She was taking it all in the whole week. It’s about her making memories, nothing to do with me, but once she’s happy that’s the main thing.”
