FORTY years ago young west Belfast woman Marita Marron was crowned Rose of Tralee. The then 20-year-old had recently returned from Sweden, where she had worked as an au pair for two years, and had secured a job working in the civil service in Newtownards, when a neighbour knocked on her door with an application form for the Rose of Tralee.
In the summer of that year, 1979, Marita was "shocked" when she became the third Belfast Rose to be crowned the Rose of Tralee, following in the footsteps of Therese Gillespie in 1965 and Veronica McCambridge in 1973.
The mother-of-six, whose married name is Staunton, recently relived her time as a Rose, at the Diamond Jubliee Rose of Tralee launch in Dublin. There she joined winners from the past six decades, including current Rose of Tralee Kirsten Mate Maher and the inaugural winner in 1959, Alice O'Sullivan.
The idea for the Rose of Tralee International Festival came about when a group of local business people met in Harty's bar, Tralee to come up with ideas to bring more tourists to the town during its annual horse-racing meeting and to encourage Kerry ex-pats to return home.
The event, named after a 19th century ballad, started in 1959 on a budget of just £750 and has grown into an international event celebrated among Irish communities all over the world, culminating in the RTÉ broadcast of the selection finals, hosted by Dáithí Ó Sé since 2010.
Not a beauty pageant, the Rose of Tralee bills itself as a celebration of the "aspirations, ambitions, intellect, social responsibility and Irish heritage’" of modern young women. Participants are not judged on their appearances but on their personality throughout the week-long series of events, and their potential to be a positive ambassador for Ireland.
Despite living in Castlebar, Co Mayo since 1985, Marita, whose sister and family still live in Belfast, would love to see another northern winner this year.
"It's 40 years since I won it, so it's about time someone from Northern Ireland won again,” she says.
Recalling 1979, she is still surprised by her win. "That year, Aer Lingus was promoting flights to America and they had a raffle for the Roses. Before they had announced the Rose of Tralee, they selected my number for winning the holiday – a trip for two to New York. And then they announced I had won the overall competition and I was flabbergasted.
“We lived in Gransha in west Belfast, the same street as the first Belfast Rose Therese Gillespie. As children we would have known her, but I had never thought of entering, until our neighbour asked my mum,” she says.
It was a busy summer for the Marron family as Marita's sister was getting married four days after the Rose of Tralee final.
"My father had passed away in 1976 and my sister was busy with wedding preparations, so only my mum and a neighbour came down with me to Tralee.”
In terms of fashion, she has fond memories of wearing a white halterneck dress for the televised final and a black maxi dress with a fishtail for the Rose Ball.
"The organisers sent you a list of outfits you should bring, including casual wear for visiting the hospitals and schools, suits for the races and formal wear. I was young and didn’t have much money and I was so grateful that a lady, Maggie, who had a boutique on the Glen Road, kindly sponsored my wardrobe."
Although Marita remembers the heightened security, as the festival took place in the same month Lord Mountbattan was murdered, her overriding memory was "the friendliness of the people of Tralee".
She also made powerful personal friendships, in particular with the Dublin Rose, Avril Ryan, who she took with her to New York on her prize-winning flight and went on to share a flat with for a number of years in Dublin.
At 5' 9'' Marita, was one of the tallest of the 27 contestants, and she recalls how she and the Dublin Rose managed to talk the head escort – men participate in the show as 'Rose Escorts', accompanying and assisting the Roses during their time in the festival – into pairing them with suitably sized attendants.
"It worked and we got two lovely guys from Limerick. It was their first time doing escorting, but they were very charming and nice," she laughs.
For the televised section of the festival, Marita confesses she was slightly unprepared and ended up telling a story about a donkey as her showpiece.
"I did Irish dancing as a child, but I thought my skills weren't up to television. [The then host] Gay Byrne was very good off camera and reassured us we didn't have to have a party piece and told me a story about an Irish donkey, which I used," she giggles.
While Marita was delighted to win a specially produced piece of crystal and jewellery, the Diamond Jubilee Rose of Tralee this year will drive away in a brand new KIA car, a world travel prize valued at €25,000 and a week-long holiday in Kerry, as well as a host of events to attend throughout the year.
"The furthest I travelled during my reign as Rose was Birmingham in England. I was mainly opening community centres and appearing at car and boat shows at the RDS," she remembers fondly.
Although she dabbled in modelling, after a few jobs Marita decided it wasn’t the career for her and worked at the The Irish Blood Transfusion Service in Dublin before love took her to Co Mayo.
"My husband has a sports shop here in Castlebar, while his brother has the pharmacy next door and their mother had the gift shop. I worked in the gift shop in my 80s pencil shirt and Sue Ellen shoulder padded blouses for a good few years until the third child came along and it became too hard to juggle working and raising children."
Now a grandmother of two, her youngest child and only daughter, Rachel, is currently studying business in Limerick and is showing a possible interest in The Rose of Tralee.
"She's eager to see what it's all about, and we’ve already booked our hotel accommodation for this year," says Marita, who believes that the competition is still relevant.
"It's run successfully for 60 years and is respected globally. It is empowering for young girls and great for confidence building. Even if they don't win, the general experience and the contacts they make worldwide are tremendous.”
And her advice to those considering entering?
"The main thing is to just be yourself and try to relax and don't get too stressed over it or put yourself under financial pressure by buying expensive outfits. At the end of the day it's supposed to be fun.”
Herself now also in her 60th year and looking fabulous, I can’t resist asking Marita if the fresh air of the west of Ireland is the secret to her youthful looks.
"I do a bit of exercise and have a good regime regarding skincare, but I think I'm just genuinely lucky,” she blushes.
:: The Rose of Tralee International Festival takes place from August 23-27. Rose of Tralee regional selections will be staged in towns and cities all over the world from February to June and anyone interested in entering should do so online at Roseoftralee.ie/apply
