‘It was the last thing I expected’: Meet the new Cork Rose 

The newly-selected 2025 Cork Rose, Nancy Lehane, had originally hoped her boyfriend might enter as an escort in the world-famous competition.

It was only when he declined that the soon-to-be 22-year-old decided she’d give it a go herself.

“It was a bit of a whim really,” said Nancy, from Meelin, a small village on the Cork border with Kerry and Limerick. “Like a lot of things in my life!”

That same ‘come what may’ approach saw her enter into RTÉ’s Ireland’s Fittest Family with her mum and twin brothers after seeing an ad on Facebook.

They didn’t get past the first round, but it was still a stand-out experience, and she has the same hopes for her year as Cork Rose.

“I also hope that being Cork Rose will help me to get my old self back,” she said.

Nancy, who has just completed her degree in Primary Education and is working as a special education teacher in Newmarket NS, said that as a youngster she was very confident and was on for giving anything a go, without a second thought.

She was involved in athletics, swimming, gymnastics, boxing, played football, camogie, and music.

She also taught home music lessons from the age of 14.

However, she said that in a ‘typical teenage way’ she lost some of that confidence in recent years.

“But I think that the next year will really make me, help me to become the person I’m going to be – someone who is up for anything and not nervous about things,” she said.

It has to be said though that Nancy is already leading a very busy life, and is fully immersed in her close-knit community.

She plays the guitar, tin whistle, concertina and piano. She sings at weddings, communions, and gigs, is part of her local drama group and choir, and has even done warm-up for John Spillane.

She also plays football, full-forward, with St Peter’s club (although she’s out injured at the moment with a niggling hip issue).

Despite all these credentials, though, and applying to be the Cork Rose herself, she admitted to suffering from impostor syndrome at the competition’s information evening.

“I thought that all the other girls were just so accomplished and that it wasn’t for me,” she said honestly.

Those same feelings of trepidation plagued her ahead of a trip to Uganda as part of her studies with a group called Nurture Africa.

“I’m afraid of flying, vaccines, the unknown, so the thoughts of the trip really scared the life out of me, but I knew my future self would thank me for going, and pushing myself out of my comfort zone,” she said.

She applied the same logic when deciding to stick with the Cork Rose process and it obviously paid off when she was crowned the winner on Sunday night.

“It was honestly the last thing I expected – it felt so surreal, like I was on another planet! It’s only starting to sink in now,” she said.

Supporting her on the night were her parents, Denis - a farmer and stone mason - and Anne-Marie, a nurse in Kanturk Community Hospital.

She is the second eldest in the family and has four brothers, who were all in the audience as well.

“They’re all very good to me, we are all very different but we all get along really well. Diarmuid, the third eldest, was actually my escort,” she said.

Two bus-loads also came from Meelin to cheer her on.

Nancy, who is named after her maternal grandmother, has a strong sense of community and is very proud of where she comes from.

“I’m so lucky to be from Meelin, there’s no place else I’d rather be from.

“We are really clannish and everyone looks out for each other. I honestly feel that, in serving others, we find our happiness.”

Nancy has cancelled holiday plans to Malta, as well as plans to pursue a Masters for now, to focus on being Cork Rose.

She’s really excited at what lies ahead and, teaching in an all-girls school, she hopes to be an inspiration to the young pupils.

“I hope that they’ll see me as a normal person and realise that just being yourself in these situations is good enough.”

Nancy will represent Cork at the Rose of Tralee International Festival in August, beginning with the Rose Tour.

Last year’s Cork Rose Shauna O’Sullivan said that the experience “brought out traits and qualities in me that I never knew I had in me” adding, “I will be sure to carry them with me always. It’s really amazing what you can do when you push yourself out of your comfort zone and when you’re surrounded by people who encourage you and inspire you.”

The 26-year-old pharmacist, from the small village of Araglen, near Fermoy, said her main reason for taking part initially was to widen her circle of friends.

She told WoW!: “I am jealous of all the fun the girls are going to have.

“I would do it all again in a heartbeat and I’m looking forward to giving them all the support and guidance that I was so lucky to receive myself... the whole experience has been the biggest gift and one that I will cherish for the rest of my days. It really was a dream come true for me.”

The Rose of Tralee International Festival will take place this year from Friday, August 15 to Tuesday, August 19.

Rose of Tralee Regional selections will take place in towns and cities across Ireland, and all over the world in the coming weeks ahead of the festival.