Mags GarganMags Gargan speaks to Elysha Brennan about her ‘incredible journey’ as the new Rose of Tralee
Last August Elysha Brennan, the Meath Rose, became the first winner of the Rose of Tralee in seven years to come from an Irish centre. Her “incredible journey” began three years ago when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer, at the age of 19 and underwent intensive chemotherapy treatment. She decided to write a ‘bucket list’ of goals to achieve and her aunt Ciara persuaded her to enter the Rose of Tralee.
Elysha’s ambition was to become the Meath Rose and reach the international final in Tralee. She says she never thought about winning, despite being the strongest favourite with the bookies. However, now in remission from cancer, she has learned the hard way that life is “fleeting and unpredictable”, so she has embraced the title of Rose and Tralee, and all its responsibilities and opportunities, with a great passion and enthusiasm.
Speaking as she prepared to travel to Tralee’s twin town in Germany to officially open the Christmas market along with the German Rose, Elysha says her time so far as Rose of Tralee has been “a whirlwind of travelling”.
“I have been to parts of Ireland I thought I would never get to go to and also other parts of the world. I’m heading to Germany in two days and I am just back from India. There have just been so many incredible events and lots of amazing people. Also lots of TV things and radio interviews, which are really exciting, so it is like a full time job and I am busy 5-6 days a week.”
Medical student
The 22-year-old from Bettystown was due to enter her third year as a medical student in the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin this year, but has deferred her studies for a year to concrete on her role as Rose. “At the time it was a really difficult decision to make, but in hindsight it was kind of a given because there is no way I could have done the two.”
She says being the Rose of Tralee “is such a once-in-a-lifetime thing” and her college was “really supportive” of her decision. “They said we will facilitate you in whatever way we can to help. They were really encouraging and they were so excited about it as well. It will be interesting when I go back next year. Hopefully I will remember one or two things! That will be challenging, but I’m not thinking that far ahead,” she says.
While she is still very early on in her studies, she has a keen interest in working with children and says her heart is telling her to go into paediatrics. It was this interest in the welfare of children that led her to recently travel to India to visit the Hope Foundation, a children’s charity founded by Corkwoman Maureen Forrest.
“What they do is educate and care for street and slum children in Kolkata,” Elysha explains. “They have nine homes over there where they house abandoned children and care for them. It is a full time live-in facility. There is also a huge emphasis on education so they have Hope Schools. They believe every child is entitled to an education as a fundamental right. It is incredible to see these children flourish and they are so grateful and happy to be going to school.
“They also have a fully functional Hope Hospital which takes in people who can’t afford health care. I got to meet lots of incredible children there and it is all coming from fundraising,” she says.
“I am so passionate about it because I have seen first-hand where the money goes. Something that was so poignant for me when I was over there, was that I thought what would be the fate of these children and what kind of life would they be living if the Hope Foundation hadn’t stepped in and essentially saved them.” (www.hopefoundation.ie)
Elysha has a strong sense of the importance of helping others who are less fortunate, especially after her own brush with serious ill health.
A few months before the Rose of Tralee final, she went on a parish pilgrimage to Lourdes as a volunteer assisting sick pilgrims and she plans to go back next April with the Irish Pilgrimage Trust to assist special needs children.
“I wanted to give something back and to give thanks,” she says. “Lourdes was a very special place for me and a very personal one. It was about being one-to-one and helping people. That is where my faith and passion lies.”
While she would class herself as more spiritual than religious, Elysha says she believes in God, she prays and she has “a great faith”. “I think it is something that is really personal and unique to everyone.”
Christmas is a very important family time for Elysha and after another trip to the Middle East in mid-December she made sure to have a few days off in her schedule for Christmas and New Year.
“I have really prioritised taking Christmas off. It is a really important time in our family and I don’t believe anyone should be working over Christmas if they can at all possibly take it off,” she says, looking forward to a traditional family holiday.
“I’m 22 and my brother and sister Sean and Kate are 19, but we still do Santa. Santa even comes to the dog. It is a very traditional morning. We have a big breakfast and we go to Mass. Then we come home and chill out and go to my aunt Ciara’s. There are about 20 of us for dinner in her house. It really is my favourite day of the year. She is an incredible cook and she has a menu printed out and everything. That dinner goes on for hours and hours,” she says.
“Then in the evening time we travel to my other cousins on the other side of the family and we have a bit of a sing song and a party there. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t do this, so I always associate Christmas with this routine.
“Then on St Stephen’s Day we go to my other auntie and have a second Christmas dinner and open more presents. Spending time with family is a huge priority for Christmas. It is nothing really fancy, it is just fundamentally about being with your family.”
Elysha is still “chipping away” at her bucket list, but she says her whole experience of the Rose of Tralee competition, from becoming Meath Rose in April to receiving the crown in August, has been a huge highlight and an “incredible journey”.
While Elysha still gets tired sometimes and needs to make sure she doesn’t overdo things in her new hectic lifestyle, she says she is in “great health” and wants to “seize every opportunity”. “If I am feeling good then why not go for things. I suppose I realised that life is very short and fleeting and unpredictable, and I try to go for everything that I can,” she says.