At home with our Meath Rose... ‘I just want to make all my family and my county proud!’

The newly crowned Meath Rose has said her family's love for the iconic event through the generations inspired her to enter this year's competition

Trim nursing student and talented Irish dancer Ella Bannon (19), was chosen to represent the Royal county at a selection evening from 14 hopefuls at a glittering event in the Knightsbrook Hotel earlier this month.

Ella says her loved ones are naturally proud of her representing her county in the competition but for her mother's side of the family it is “a dream come true.”

“My whole family are just avid Rose of Tralee fans,” said Ella.

“My great granny on my mam's side is from Waterford and she was a massive fan of the festival,” she added.

“They would all go down to Tralee, they wouldn't actually get into the dome but they loved just the atmosphere and everything about it.

“One of the main significant events would have been when Brenda Highland won back in 1983, she was the Waterford Rose and so was Orla Burke who won in 1977, she was a 20-year-old nurse as well. My great granny would also have encouraged my mam, who's also a nurse, to enter the festival. But I don't think that she had the courage so I was there to live their dream and hopefully make them all proud and just to make my county proud!

Ella says the highlight so far has been the camaraderie between the Rose hopefuls.

“Getting the opportunity to meet and spend time with the other 14 girls was a really amazing experience,” she said.

“I was saying to my family and my friends that even if I don't get as far as to win it, I've had such an amazing experience already so far.”

The Trim native who is currently a nursing student at Dublin City University (DCU), with hopes of specialising in oncology or haematology admits it was a family member's health battle that inspired her career into the medical field.

“We had a very difficult diagnosis in 2018 with a really close family member and my sister and myself were able to go and just be there for them during their treatment,” said the newly crowned Meath Rose.

“From that day, I was absolutely just enthralled by all the nurses,” she added.

“They weren't just able to look after my family member but my family as a whole, in such a vulnerable situation. From that day forward I knew that was the job for me.

“I was able to get two weeks work experience as a first year in Connolly Hospital and I just got a taster of it, and I just knew it was what I wanted to do. I can't imagine myself doing anything else. I think I have the ability to connect with people as well, and I've such a passion for caring for people.”

A talented Irish dancer, Ella began dancing at the age of four and competed at a championship level, achieving an incredible 7th place at the World Championships in 2021 before retiring to focus on her studies. She has since travelled the world, sharing Irish culture through dance and music with children in various countries.

The Royal rose who attended St Mary's Primary School and Scoil Mhuire in Trim says she can't wait for the adventure ahead over the coming months. She added:

“The festival is running from the 15th to the 19th of August and we have the two show nights on the 18th and the 19th of August.

“We go on tour on the 10th of August so that's going to be jam packed, but it's all full of amazing activities and tour events for all of the roses.

“Because I'm probably one of the early roses selected the beauty of it is I'm basically able to go to most of the selection nights so I get to meet my rose family which is great. I'll have the opportunity to build a profile and work with charities which I'm so looking forward to doing.”