Katie is having the time of her life as a Rose in Tralee
Carlow Rose Katie Ryan gives a yoga lesson to Kathryn and Daithí onstage last night
KATIE Ryan from Tullow is having the time of her life.
After being selected as the Carlow entrant in this year’s Rose of Tralee, she proudly represented her county last night (Monday) in the first of two televised nights. Between last night and tonight, 32 Roses will vie for the much-coveted title of this year’s Rose of Tralee.
Katie spent the previous week touring Ireland with the other Rose contestants and had almost lost her voice when she spoke to ahead of her appearance on stage last night.
“My voice is almost gone, but it’s coming back,” an excited Katie said. “It’s all been absolutely brilliant. It has exceeded my expectations.”
She is the daughter of Geraldine Brennan and granddaughter of Brendan and Mary Brennan and was educated at Tullow Community School. Her mother and aunt Marie Brennan were in Kerry for a few days with her, while a troop of her family and friends were in the Rose Dome to cheer her on.
There are lots of connections between Katie’s home county and the legendary Rose festival, as Carlow’s own Kathryn Thomas is a co-presenter with Daithí Ó Sé, while the musical director of the show is Ollie Hennessy.
Katie has already done lots in her young life, having graduated with a degree from Dundalk Institute of Technology in sports, exercise and enterprise, which she has put to practical use in her career so far. She was also vice-president for welfare and equality in the college’s student union and, during college, worked with special needs children in California while on J1 visas.
The Covid years put a stop to her travels, so once the restrictions were lifted Katie set off on a five-month solo adventure to Bali, Thailand and Australia. In Bali, she completed training as a yoga teacher, while she also took part in two fundraising activities for the local community.
Aged 26, Katie now works with Hockey Ireland as an equality and diversity officer, while she has already set up her own business as a yoga teacher. She teaches yoga in Harry Burke’s Bar on Dublin Street, Carlow, which is her main sponsor for the Rose competition.
“They suggested that I enter the competition, so I did, thinking it would be a nice way to give something back to them because they’re so supportive of me. I’m so excited about the competition – the week has gone by so quickly,” added Katie.
Having appeared on last night’s show, Katie will have to wait until tonight (Tuesday) to see who will be crowned this year’s Rose of Tralee. The second night of the Rose of Tralee International Festival is being screened on RTÉ1 at 8pm.
