Nineteen-year-old Jenny Hanlon from Cooley couldn’t believe her ears when the judges announced that she had won the final of the 2015 Louth Rose competition.
Winning the competition is a dream come true for the student, who says that she always wanted to be a Rose.
Jenny wooed the judges and audience with her down to earth personality and fine singing voice.
‘I’m delighted now that I entered and look forward to representing Louth in the Regional Finals in Portlaoise over the June Bank Holiday weekend.’
The first thing Jenny did after receiving her crown from last year’s Louth Rose Ciara Sorahan was to phone her Mum Frances to let her know that she had won the competition.
A past-pupil of Bush Post-Primary School, Jenny says that she would love to be a professional singer. ‘I love country music and I’ve sung with my uncle Henry McCloskey.’ She was a member of the school choir which won an All Ireland Choral competition in Cork a few years ago.
Jenny was representing the Maria Goretti Foundation, the charity set up by her late uncle John Hanlon to provide a children’s respite centre in Lordship.
She is now looking forward to representing Louth in the Regional Finals at Portlaoise in which six county Roses will be selected to compete in the 2015 Rose of Tralee final in August.