The
Rose of Tralee festival is an international competition which is celebrated among
Irish communities all over the world. The festival, held annually in the town of
Tralee in
County Kerry, takes its inspiration from a nineteenth-century
ballad of the
same name about a woman called Mary, who because of her beauty was called
The Rose of Tralee. The words of the song are credited to C. (or E.) Mordaunt Spencer and the music to
Charles William Glover, but a story circulated in connection with the festival claims that the song was written by William Pembroke Mulchinock, a wealthy
Protestant, out of love for Mary O'Connor, a poor
Catholic maid in service to his parents.