Mayo woman impresses as she represents Sydney in the Rose of Tralee

Mayo woman and Sydney Rose, Ashling Heneghan, has made a splash at this year’s Rose of Tralee festival.

Having just competed at the annual festival, which is being aired on RTÉ one, Ms Heneghan gave an impressive performance.

Stepping out in a sparkling blue gown, Ms Heneghan explained how her family missed gathering for big occasions, such as weddings, during COVID, but how they are now ‘making up for it’ in celebrating the Rose of Tralee.

She spoke about her career in the UK, working as a speech and language therapist for the NHS in a socially deprived area before moving home. Struggling to find a job at home, she landed in Sydney, where her brother had been residing for 13 years.

Speaking about her passion for race-walking, she joked with presenter Dáithí Ó Sé about his ‘bad knee’, to which he wittily replied: “The Mayo comes out quick doesn’t it?”.

For her talent, the Sydney Rose entertained the audience with sign language called ‘Lámh’, teaching the audience signs which related to both Ireland and Australia, including ‘Love’, ‘Kangaroo’, and ‘More drink’.

Joking about her Mayo heritage, Mr Ó Sé commented: “She’ll make us do something now that says ‘Mayo for Sam’ or something like that.”

_{Ashling Heneghan, the Sydney Rose, performing 'Lámh' with Dáithí Ó Sé onstage at the 2024 Rose of Tralee festival (photo: @roseoftraleefestival on Instagram)}

Speaking to The Mayo News ahead of this week’s festival, the former NHS worker explained: “For my entertainment piece in Sydney I did some keyword sign, or it's known as ‘lámh’ here in Ireland. It’s signs for people with disabilities, and I use it as part of my job as a speech and language therapist quite regularly because we use quite a lot of different methods of communication, some verbal and some non-verbal.”

The Carrabaun woman, who has lived in Sydney for just over a year, wore the Sydney sash at the prestigious festival after being crowned the best of 12 competitors.

She ‘couldn’t believe’ she was chosen as the Sydney Rose, and said she entered the contest ‘because you get to surround yourself by women that are worldly’, and to make ‘fun memories and a bit of craic to tell [her] future nieces’.s

Thirty-two International Roses will appear at the festival throughout tonight, Monday, and tomorrow night, Tuesday, after which the 2024 Rose of Tralee will be chosen.

Former festival winner and Castlebar native, Luzveminda O’Sullivan, is Chair of the judging panel for this year's Rose of Tralee festival, while James Burke from Ardagh will proudly represent Mayo in the Escort section of the competition.

Make sure to tune in to tomorrow night’s show to see if the Mayo woman will be crowned the winner.

The Rose of Tralee will air tomorrow from 8pm on RTÉ one, and you can catch up on tonight’s festival coverage on RTÉ Player.