Chicago’s Maggie McEldowney is the 2016 Rose

Maggie McEldowney’s winning moment with presenter Dáithí Ó Sé. RTE photo.

 

By Irish Echo Staff

The Windy City has a new rose by the name of Maggie McEldowney.

Maggie, the Chicago Rose in the annual rose of Tralee competition, came out tops under the dome Tuesday night against an array of fellow roses from all over the world.

RTÉ’s Dáithí Ó Sé announced the result in front of nearly one million television viewers and an audience of 2000 people in the Festival Dome.

Maggie (27) was presented with her sash and tiara by 2015 Rose of Tralee Elysha Brennan and Robbie Scanlan, Managing Director of Tipperary Crystal, lead sponsors of the festival.

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Maggie is the third Chicago rose to win the coveted title.

Speaking after becoming the 58th Rose of Tralee, Maggie said: “The crown’s coming to Chicago. I’m so excited about it! One of my favorite parts about being the Chicago Rose is that every day I get to wear the Chicago sash.

“I’m just beaming with pride because I know the people back home and the people I’m representing at my Centre are very special. There’s such a strong Irish community in Chicago, I can’t wait to share the news with them.”

McEldowney, a native of the south-side of the city, joins Teresa Kenny (1960) and Larna Canoy (1987) as a Chicago winner of the Rose of Tralee sash.

She works as the director of development at Marist High School and is passionate about raising money for families who could not otherwise afford Catholic education, said a release announcing her win.

After earning the Chick Evans Scholarship to the University of Illinois, Maggie graduated with a degree in media studies in 2011.

In her free time, Maggie serves on the board of the Young Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago, a committee responsible for coordinating fundraisers that celebrate Irish culture.

“I understand the tremendous impact a Rose can have on the lives of others, and will continue that tradition wholeheartedly as the 2016 Rose of Tralee,” said Maggie, whose grandmother, Brigid O’Neill, was born and raised in Maghera, County Derry.

The McEldowneys hail from Draperstown, County Derry and Fr. Seamus O’Neill, her dad’s cousin, is a devout member of the St. Patrick’s Society for the Foreign Missions, located in County Wicklow, added the festival release.

Singing sensation, Nathan Carter, serenaded Maggie in the Dome and again on Denny Street in the heart of Tralee where thousands of people turned out for the “Midnight Madness Parade” sponsored by Bon Secours Hospital Tralee.

The 2016 Rose of Tralee International Festival was the biggest in its long history with 65 Roses taking part in the seven-day event, said the release.

Next year’s Rose of Tralee International Festival will take place from 16-22 August and online Rose applications are now being accepted at www.roseoftralee.ie.

 

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