More than a Pageant Queen: Leitrim's Rachel Foley is changing the conversation

Rachel Foley has dedicated much of her 20s to showing young women that they don’t have to fit inside one box. The 26-year-old from Kinlough is passionate about cars and construction, working by day as a Health and Safety Officer on sites in Wicklow, while by evening she puts on her heels, glams up and competes in pageants.

She recently achieved a historic milestone, having been crowned Miss Galaxy International in the Bahamas after competing in the Miss Galaxy competition for three years.

Rachel is the first Irish woman ever to win the title, and the second Irish woman to win a ‘Miss’ title after Rosanna Davison won Miss World in 2003.

“I wake up in the morning and just forget and then I look over and see my crown and sash and I honestly just can’t believe it. I think it’s a massive accomplishment to be the only person in Ireland to ever get the crown,” says Rachel. She has spent the last three years preparing for this moment and remained determined throughout to bring the crown back to Ireland. She is a woman who doesn’t do half measures: steadfast, driven and certain of what she wants.

“I applied to Miss Galaxy Ireland in 2023 and I won that title in 2024. Then I went to internationals and I didn’t place,” explains Rachel. But she didn’t give up there.

“I knew it was such an amazing experience so I knew I was going to come back, give it my all and make sure Ireland wins that crown. I spent the last three years working really hard towards it and it clearly paid off.”

She says she struggles to put into words what it all means to her, but it is clear just how passionate she is about her win, and especially about what it meant to represent Ireland.

“I am so proud to be Irish. To stand on an international stage not once but twice representing Ireland meant so much,” she beams.

“But now, to be the first person to ever bring that title home as an Irish woman, I just can’t put it into words. I just feel so proud to bring it back home to Ireland for the first time in history.”

Rachel also speaks about the misconceptions surrounding pageantry. Many people think it is simply about getting dressed up and having walking coaches, but much of her preparation over the past three years was community-based. She raised funds for mental health charities and became a brand ambassador for Petal, an online therapy company, as she is passionate about raising awareness surrounding mental health issues.

Rachel also needed to build an online platform, so she turned to content creation. With over 60,000 followers on TikTok, she transformed her page into the representation she wanted to have when she was growing up.

“My platform is all about being a woman in a male dominated field. When I grew up, there was no representation for me,” she explains.

“There were no women online that I could look up to that did girly things but also loved their construction and cars. I wanted to become the representation that I didn’t have growing up.”

Rachel has had a great reach through her platform, with one young woman reaching out to her for advice. The woman farms but also wanted to get into pageantry.

“She felt like she could never do it because she worked on a farm until she saw me doing it,” says Rachel. “She reached out, I helped her on her journey and she actually came second in her very first pageant. I was so honoured to be a part of that journey.”

Making a difference in other people’s lives by sharing her passions is something that means a lot to Rachel. Even in her job, community and social aspects are important to her.

“I always wanted to work outdoors. I wanted to be a construction worker or a Garda,” says Rachel. “I went into the route of health and safety because I still wanted a job where I could help people. I can help people, and work on a construction site so I thought it was absolutely perfect.”

She describes working in construction as a woman as “tough,” saying she feels she has to prove herself and show that she knows what she’s doing more so. “When I tell people I do pageants outside of work, people just can’t believe that I do construction and then go put on the high heels at the weekend,” she laughs.

She hopes that through her online platform, she can provide the visibility she wanted when she was younger and help make the industry more accessible to women.

“Even when I was in college or school, there should’ve been more women in the industry coming in and doing talks. It’s still so stereotyped. The more women that join, the less stereotyped they will be and the more normal it would be to see them in those roles,” she says.

To compete in Miss Galaxy for three years, Rachel had to sacrifice a lot of her personal time, but ultimately, it was worth it all. She is a different woman compared to before joining the competition, having found a new confidence that she now carries with her in life and in work.

“Two years ago when I went on the stage for the very first time, I still had little to no confidence. I didn’t believe in myself and once I started to work on myself I really turned into this confident, powerful woman,” she says.

“I’ve made a change in my life and other people’s lives proving that they can do male and female things and that they can fit in and belong anywhere.”

Rachel will continue her reign as Miss Galaxy International as she started it - continuing to raise funds for charities and promote the message that women can fit in anywhere.

“I am going to do what I have been doing with my Ireland title and keep attending events, raising money for mental health charities and I’m going to try to travel internationally as much as possible with my crown and sash,” she says, adding, “It’s going to be a very jam packed year and I’m going to make the most out of it. I still can’t believe it, little old me from Kinlough!”

After her reign, she will travel back to the Bahamas and pass down the title to the next Miss Galaxy winner next year.

“I’m going to work really hard during my reign, but after that, I’ll take on the directorship and give other girls the opportunity to step into the role.”

The title couldn’t be passed down by better hands. Even if Rachel had not won the International title, she still would’ve been crowned Miss Europe, an achievement that is still remarkable. The win is no small feat, being the first Irish woman in history to win the title, and the past three years may just be the beginning of something new and big for Rachel as she continues to grow her platform, share her passions and become the woman she wished she had to look up to when she was growing up.

“I put myself in a great position to be able to win but even if I was the only person competing, I still wouldn’t be able to believe it,” she says. “It’s really an amazing opportunity.”