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A NEW book about the story behind the original Rose of Tralee, Mary O’Connor, will be released on May 1.
In the tradition of bestselling historical novels ‘Becoming Belle’, ‘The Signature of all Things’ and ‘Love is Blind’, comes ‘The First Rose of Tralee’ from Patricia O’Reilly.
According to the publishers, Poolbeg Press, this is an account of “the young girl as beautiful as she was innocent and caring whose attributes live on in the annual Rose of Tralee International Festival – in 2019 celebrating its Diamond Anniversary, sixty years of Festival success.”
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“Ireland in the mid-eighteen hundreds was a place of great riches, great poverty and political turmoil. The Mulchinocks lived in style, the O’Connors in poverty and Daniel O’Connell held monster political rallies. And then William Mulchinock and Mary O’Connor fell in love – their story is spellbinding, and he wrote for her the perennial Rose of Tralee Ballad, anthem of the Festival.”
“Wonderfully told, vividly evoking the sights sounds and characters of Ireland pre-Famine, and when India was the jewel in the crown of the British Empire. Patricia O’Reilly weaves an enthralling tale.”
So if you like the sound of that, you can buy the book from May 1 for €15.99. Patricia O’Reilly is the author of several historical novels as well as contemporary and non-fiction titles.
She has come the route of freelance print journalism, made radio documentaries and plays and teaches fiction writing in UCD.
