Tralee, Ireland - A New York attorney on Tuesday evening was crowned Ireland's new Rose of Tralee on the second and final night of the competition at the 48th Rose of Tralee International Festival in the south-western County of Kerry. Twenty-seven-year-old Lisa Murtagh beat 30 other women from all over the world in the popular personality contest.
All the contestants in the pageant in Tralee, a scenic town 250 kilometres south-west of the capital Dublin, must be Irish by birth or ancestry, and the winner will represent the Irish community worldwide throughout the coming year.
The idea of the festival is based on the song, The Rose of Tralee, by 19th-century merchant William Mulchinock, who fell in love with his maid Mary O'Connor. But their differences in social status kept them apart, and the heartbroken Mulchinock expressed his pain in the song.
While the story of the original Rose is a tragic one, the modern festival is more joyous with a carnival parade, floats, entertainers and a formal ball.
While the first festival in 1959 started with only five Roses representing Tralee, London, Dublin, Birmingham and New York, this year's contestants came from as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Dubai.
