Even her fellow passengers fell in love with Maria Walsh.
Before Maria Walsh, the new International Rose of Tralee, showed up at the arrivals gate at Philadelphia Airport on Tuesday, her fellow passengers, seeing the crowd and the banners there to welcome her, stopped to give their own review of Philly’s Rose.
“She is truly a rose,” said one woman, who didn’t give her name. “I met her on the plane. She’s a sweetie!”
Another woman, who, with her husband and children, had just returned from an Irish holiday, had encountered the new Rose before. “We went into one town and when they found out we were from Philly they said, ‘Oh, that’s where the Rose of Tralee is from. She’s here,’” she said. “Everyone was very excited.”
But not as excited as the 30-some people who were waiting for Walsh, the first-ever International Rose of Tralee from the Philly Rose Center in its 12 years. When they spotted her—looking chic in her gray patterned dress and pearls and remarkably awake for someone with no sleep—they burst into cheers.
Walsh quickly pulled her crown out of her bag and maneuvered it onto her head, grinning from ear to ear. She thanked the crowd for coming, said she was “glad to finally be home,” and posed for photos with anyone who asked, including one woman she met on the plane.
Philly’s Rose, who was tied for first in all the betting parlors in Ireland from the moment she arrived there, was a first in other ways too. For one, she’s the only Philly Rose who’s had an Irish accent. Born in Boston, she moved to Ireland with her parents and siblings when she was seven, settling in Shrule, County Mayo. The immigration pattern comes naturally—her mother was also born in the US and moved back to Ireland with her parents; Walsh’s father is Irish-born. She moved to Philadelphia about three years ago.
She is also proud of the fact that she is a Pioneer—an Irish-based program for teetotalers. Walsh doesn’t drink. And she is apparently the first Rose with visible tattoos—three ladybugs on her neck that serve as a memorial to a cousin who died in a car crash and the phrase: “The trouble is, you think you have time” on her arm which she says, “reminds me to always carpe diem because you never know.”
And, as she announced to a reporter in Ireland, she is gay which, though the Irish press was all over it, is clearly a non-issue for her Philly-based fans who will be gathering on Saturday at St. Declan’s Well Pub and Restaurant, 3131 Walnut Street, in Philadelphia, a pub co-owned by the father of the 2012 Rose, Elizabeth Spellman, who accompanied Walsh to the Rose event in Tralee this year. The festivities start at noon and are open to the public.
As for Walsh, her plans for the day were simple. She was going to work. She’s studio manager for the fashion and lifestyle brand, Anthropologie, based at Philadelphia’s old Navy Yard. “I was supposed to be back on Monday so I think I’d better go to work and check in,” she said laughing.
View our photos of Maria’s arrival back in Philadelphia.
