{"id":642702,"date":"2026-08-18T00:54:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T00:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/642702\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T00:54:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T00:54:22","slug":"rose-of-tralee-preparations-i-coincided-embracing-my-hair-loss-with-my-decision-not-to-wear-fake-tan-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/642702\/","title":{"rendered":"Rose of Tralee preparations: \u2018I coincided embracing my hair loss with my decision not to wear fake tan\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the Munster Technological University<\/a> campus in Tralee, Co Kerry<\/a>, on Monday, last-minute poems were being committed to memory, dance routines practised and hair, make-up, and wardrobe under way for the Rose of Tralee contestants in advance of the evening\u2019s TV show, which is expected to attract a peak audience of more than half a million viewers. <\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s broadcast will see 18 Roses join hosts D\u00e1ith\u00ed \u00d3 S\u00e9 and Kathryn Thomas on stage over the course of the evening to tell their life stories and perform their hidden talents, before the second half and ultimate winner is crowned on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n

Westmeath Rose Caoilfhinn N\u00ed Choiligh, who has alopecia and is studying to become a wig maker, said that when it comes to the beauty prep, she is \u201cblessed in a way\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think I have it quite lucky because I wear wigs, so I can have them styled days, weeks, even months, in advance if I want.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people always think of the negatives when they start to lose their hair,\u201d said N\u00ed Choiligh. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think people realise you can curl a wig and have it styled for days or weeks \u2013 I have a wig that is still styled from May and I can just pop that on whenever I want. It\u2019s one of the pros of wearing a wig. You don\u2019t have to wash it as often [either], as it doesn\u2019t get greasy. So I have a very easy hair care routine.\u201d <\/p>\n

N\u00ed Choiligh, who set up a support group for those dealing with hair loss, has also decided not to wear fake tan for the televised show.<\/p>\n

\u201cI coincided this whole embracing my hair loss with my decision not to wear fake tan and loving my pale skin because they both work into the beauty standards that we have nowadays,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

N\u00ed Choiligh has been wearing wigs for eight years after she began to lose her hair aged 15. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Rose of Tralee 2026: distant diaspora and defeated hopefuls greet competitors in paradeOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cI gave up tan a little while ago. It just didn\u2019t suit me and it was too much work,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI can still go without the wig or without the fake tan and feel beautiful, because when you start to lose your hair you really start to lose that femininity and you grieve the person who you were and those beauty standards.\u201d <\/p>\n

Logistically too the fake tan application can be time consuming while the Roses are undertaking their tour before the live broadcast. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was meant to scrub off my tan and reapply it last night, but that didn\u2019t happen because I was so tired,\u201d London Rose Ciara Fallon said.<\/p>\n

However, she is looking forward to the show. \u201cToday we are just going over everything and practising. We are having our hair and make-up done this evening. I am not sure how long that will take but I am excited to see what they will do with me,\u201d the A&E doctor said. <\/p>\n

Nineteen-year-old Cork Rose Lexi Linnane will be first up for the show. \u201cIt is an absolute honour to open the 2026 international Rose of Tralee festival. It will be amazing,\u201d Linnane said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am taking it easy, relaxing a small bit. We just have to support each other. I\u2019m on tonight and my roommate is on tomorrow night so we made a pact; she\u2019ll support me tonight and I\u2019ll support her tomorrow.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Rose of Tralee airs on RT\u00c9 One and RT\u00c9 Player, Monday and Tuesday from 8pm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the Munster Technological University campus in Tralee, Co Kerry, on Monday, last-minute poems were being committed to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":642703,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[75],"tags":[1180,18,117,2215,19,17,957,888,14233],"class_list":["post-642702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-daithi-o-se","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-for-you","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kerry","tag-rose-of-tralee","tag-tralee"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117113786754462715","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}