Rose Of Tralee Betting: Who Will Win This Year’s Festival?
Now that the first of two televised evenings for this year’s festival is out of the way, betting sites have significantly altered their take on who will be crowned the Rose Of Tralee for 2023.
At the end of last week – just before the beginning of the five-day extravaganza in the famous Kerry town – it was revealed that bookmakers had installed Sydney’s Aoife Butler as the 11/4 favourite to become the latest competition winner.
While the Wexford native (who is employed as a mental health clinical nurse educator) is still worthy of consideration at 8/1, there are now seven contestants that are more likely to emerge with top honours in the eyes of BoyleSports.
So let’s see what the betting apps are saying.
New York’s Wiley The New Favourite
Seemingly an outside bet at 12/1 just a few days ago, the New York Rose Roisin Wiley has shortened substantially and is now rated as 2/1 favourite heading into the final night of the festival.
Now living in Manhattan where she acts as Vice-President of national sales in a consumer marketing company, Wiley was raised in Westchester – the seventh most populous county in the State of New York.
Her parents Eddie and Majella are natives of Limerick and she is aiming to become the first victor from the Big Apple since Lisa Murtagh in 2007.
Heneghan And Deering Still Featuring Highly
Amongst the main frontrunners in advance of the festival taking place, Kate Heneghan (Mayo) and Caoimhe Deering (Carlow) remain key challengers for the Rose title.
Previously joint-second in the BoyleSports rankings, Heneghan now holds the slight edge over Deering with odds of 5/2.
From Castlebar, she holds a Masters in Music Composition from Ulster University and is a more than capable harpist, violinist and pianist.
Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin (2005) is the only previous winner from Mayo and she went on to have a long career in broadcasting as well as being a high-profile science communicator.
A Geography and English teacher in a secondary school, Rathvilly and Carlow’s Deering has moved from 10/3 to a still solid 6/1 in the outright betting.
In a year when her fellow Barrowsider Kathryn Thomas is on hand as a co-host alongside regular anchor Dáithí Ó Sé, it would be somewhat fitting if she did emerge from the pack.
McCarthy Flying The Flag For Kerry
Also at 6/1 to be crowned Rose of Tralee is Kerry’s very own Kelsey Lang McCarthy. Given the festival takes place in her native county (and she was listed at 5/1 by the end of last week), it is little surprise that she is seen as one of the main contenders.
From Cahersiveen, McCarthy is currently in the final year of studying podiatric medicine at the National University of Galway.
You have to go back to Margaret O’Keeffe in 1964 for the last representative from Kerry to win the Rose Of Tralee, though the remaining five Munster counties have all had winners since then.
O’Connor, Gillen And O’Halloran Also In The Running
With that in mind, it is interesting to note that Clare’s Aisling O’Connor has moved in from 11/1 to 7/1 with specials betting sites. Hailing from Feakle in the Banner County, she currently works as a primary school teacher in Crumlin.
This puts her just ahead of London representative Amy Gillen, who was 5/1 when the festival officially got up and running last Friday, but has dropped slightly now to 8/1.
Although originally from Donegal, Gillen has lived in London for a number of years and is a graduate from both the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) and the Royal College of Music London.
Just behind the aforementioned Butler, Limerick’s Molli-Ann O’Halloran may provide decent value at 10/1.
One of the festival’s youngest contestants at 19, she is an Irish traditional singer working in Bunratty Castle and has spoken openly about living with autism and is hoping to raise awareness for the condition.