Two women with strong Waterford connections are among the 32 Roses preparing for this year’s Rose of Tralee International Festival.

Waterford Rose Cara Comerford and New Zealand Rose Rachel Keane, who is originally from Dunhill, were among this year’s Roses officially welcomed at the festival launch in Dublin on Tuesday.

Cara, 21, is from Portlaw and is a third-year Biomedical Engineering student at Munster Technological University.

She is also a passionate Irish dancer with the Mulcahy Bible School of Irish Dance.

Meanwhile, 29-year-old Rachel Keane is representing New Zealand but grew up in a farming family in Dunhill, Co. Waterford.

She later moved to New Zealand, where she has pursued her love of the outdoors.

The pair joined the other Roses at St Helen’s Hotel in Stillorgan, where hosts Dáithí Ó Sé and Kathryn Thomas officially launched the 66th Rose of Tralee International Festival.

Festivities get underway in Tralee this Friday, August 14th, before culminating with the televised Rose Selection next Monday and Tuesday.

Dáithí Ó Sé said he was looking forward to getting to know this year’s Roses.

‘I’ve been reading all about the Roses and I am delighted to meet them here today and hear their stories,’ he said.

Kathryn Thomas described the 2026 Roses as an ‘impressive, brilliant group of women’, adding that she couldn’t wait to return to Tralee.

The Rose Selection will air on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player from 8pm on Monday, August 17th and Tuesday, August 18th.