Rose of Tralee Festival

The Rose of Tralee International Festival is based on the love song The Rose of Tralee, by William Mulchinock a 19th century wealthy merchant who was in love with Mary O'Connor, his maid.

Since 1959 the Festival has grown, incorporating centres from all over the world and is firmly established on everyone's events calendar. RTÉ's live coverage of the Rose selection has helped install the Festival in the national psyche, and it has remained their top rating show for many years, with over a million people tuning in for the 2005 result.

The Grand Hotel is one of the most popular hotels to stay at during The Rose of Tralee Festival, as we are located right on Denny where the festival all takes place. Enjoy food from the various street stalls, live music from the stage in front of Tralees musuem and let your night go out with a bang with the pick of the rose fireworks display.

The Rose of Tralee - The Roses

To see all the previous Roses you can visit Tralee Town Park just down the road from our Hotel and see the Rose Wall which contains the names of every Rose who has contested the Rose of Tralee Festival since 1959.

If you would like to know more, visit the Rose of Tralee website for more information.