Cathal BarryThe Rose of Tralee has insisted that she has always felt welcome at Mass despite her homosexuality.
Maria Walsh, who won last year’s pageant, said she has “never been turned away” from a Catholic Church and has a “really great relationship” with the parish priest in her hometown of Shrule in Co. Mayo.
The 28-year-old, who is from Boston but now splits her time between Ireland and the US, said she regularly attends Mass.
“I try to go to Mass as often as I can. I do try to make an effort,” she told Brendan O’Connor on RTÉ Radio One.
Ms Walsh, who is a Pioneer, said the Church has always played a major role in her life. “For me, I connect with my parish priest, [who] has always been in my life.
“I read at Mass for many years, I was a server, I try and do as many Catholic things to live by,” she said.
The winner of the coveted pageant also revealed that although the Church spoke out against same-sex marriage ahead of the referendum in May – she has always felt “welcomed” by the Church.
“I’ve never been turned away from the Catholic Church. So I think until the day when I get turned away from the steps, I might have something else to say about it. But, no, I have always been welcomed,” she said.
The reigning rose, who works in Philadelphia as a studio manager for a clothing and lifestyle brand, has spoken out in the past of her decision to take the Pioneer’s pledge to abstain from alcohol.
She said alcohol was never a part of her life and despite peer pressure when she was a teenager she “never needed it to benefit anything”.