Leitrim rose Shauna Murtagh shines on stage in Tralee

Leitrim rose, Shauna Murtagh, took the stage last night in Tralee, County Kerry alongside RTÉ presenter Kathryn Thomas.

Shauna, from Carrick-on-Shannon wore a beautiful dress designed by Leitrim fashion designer Joanne McWeeney, which took five weeks to create.

Shauna recounted on the stage that just a week after finishing college, she was approached by Lynn and Steve from the Leitrim Centre while working at Cryan’s Hotel, who invited her to consider running for the prestigious competition.

“It was never something I thought I would enter, but I have no regrets,” Shauna explained.

Shauna Murtagh: Leitrim’s Star at the Rose of Tralee

Rose of Tralee 2024 will start on August 16 and run until August 20

Shauna described her love for sports and how her passion derived from her mother, who was the first woman to represent Ireland in rowing at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.

The Leitrim rose is an avid rower, having trained with Carrick-on-Shannon rowing club and going on to win National Championships with University of Galway.

To test Shauna, Kathryn Thomas brought out two rowing machines for a challenge. James Patrice supervised as they competed on the machines for thirty seconds on stage. Looking on, a very relieved Dáithí Ó Sé said, “It’s fair to say I dodged another bullet!”

Shauna has seen her odds to win the competition dramatically change following her memorable appearance last night. Shauna’s odds were initially 66/1 and have now fallen to 10/1.

It’s been a busy week for the Leitrim rose and she’s due to graduate from University of Galway this Friday.

The Roses will take to the stage again tonight, August 20 for the final. 

Water issues reported across Carrick-on-Shannon and Leitrim as planned outages expected

Planned repair work on Thursday is also expected to affect the water supply across Carrick-on-Shannon and surrounding areas.

Best of luck, Shauna!