Rose of Tralee winner Rachel Duffy has opened up on the sad passing of her mother when she was just nine years old after being named the winner of the iconic festival on Tuesday, RSVP reports.
While the Westmeath woman says she is on cloud nine after host Daithi O’Se called her name as the winner of the 2022 event, she described the whole experience as "very special" and mentioned her late mother.
Speaking on RTE’s Morning Ireland on Wednesday, the 23-year-old shared that she lost her mam was she was just nine years old, but praised her father and the local community in the village of Rosemount for always being there for her.
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“This whole experience of becoming the Westmeath rose is very special for our family. These things are a viscous feat, it’s hard when someone’s missing”.
“But my mam was there in her own way last night, I definitely feel like she was looking down on me”.
Speaking about her mother’s death, Rachel shared that she was only nine-years-old when she passed and praised her father for the job he did as a single parent.
“I was nine years old, my sister was 12 and my brother was 15.
“In fairness, my dad is a very good man and he’s taking such good care of us and the people in my community got us over the line and were always there for anything we ever needed. I’m very lucky”.
Speaking from her flower and champagne-filled hotel room this morning, Rachel said the whole Rose of Tralee experience was “amazing”.
“To see the joy on my family’s faces throughout the week, and to see the craic they were having, I had a lovely singsong with them at the pub event over the weekend and it was just beautiful.
“There were lots of tears, for such a happy time there were lots of tears from start to finish. This whole experience has made me realise what a privilege it is to be part of the Rose of Tralee”.
Last night, the 23-year-old was overcome with emotion as she took to the stage in front of a jam-packed audience following two nights of live shows and performances.
Speaking after her win, the Drama graduate from Rosemount became emotional as she opened up about losing her mother as a child: “I’m just in total shock, we are having a great year in Westmeath this year, and now we have the Rose of Tralee”.
After Daithi said Rachel had “someone looking down on her tonight”, she grew emotional and added: “I would love for my mam to be here but has the best seat in the house tonight and I’d like to say to my family, I hope I made ye proud”.
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