By Katy Thornton
Who do you think will win?
The Rose of Tralee is back for its 62nd year, and its second year following the pandemic.
Westmeath’s Rachel Duffy became the very first representative of the Lake County to be crowned the Rose of Tralee in 2022, and betting sites are already giving their considered take on who will win the crown following this year’s festival.
These are the current odds, as collated by Gambling.com.
Behind Butler comes Carlow’s Caoimhe Deering and Mayo’s Kate Heneghan of Mayo, both listed at 10/3. Deering is a Geography and English teacher in a secondary school, and is heavily involved with her local GAA club Rathvilly. Heneghan is a Masters in Music Composition graduate from Ulster University and plays the harp, the violin and the piano.
As always, the Kerry rose is one to look out for. This year’s rep, Kelsey Lang McCarthy, is currently listed at 5/1 alongside London’s Amy Gillen. A native of Cahersiveen, McCarthy is in the final year of studying podiatry medicine at the National University of Galway. Originally from Donegal but living in London for a number of years, Gillen is another musically gifted contestant as she is a graduate from both the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) and the Royal College of Music London.
Sinéad O’Dowd hopes to become the first Laois woman to win the Rose of Tralee and is rated at 7/1 with betting apps. A little further down the list comes Meath’s Lane Galvin and Ottawa’s Aoife McDonald, which BoyleSports regards as 10/1 hopefuls.
While these are the current odds, the crown is still up for anyone to grab at this point.
Will you be watching?
The Rose of Tralee runs from August 18 to August 22nd; you can watch it on RTÉ.
