GROWING up in rural Donegal, Emma Nelis watched the Rose of Tralee festival at home with her family every year.
As a little girl, the Gartan native dreamed of one day joining the “amazing women” on the big stage.
That dream is about to materialise as Emma has been chosen to represent Donegal at the upcoming Rose of Tralee International Festival next month
The 24-year-old History and English teacher was named the winner at the Donegal selection in An Chúirt Hotel in Gaoth Dobhair back in May.
Speaking to the Donegal News, Emma describes the “absolutely surreal” moment that her name was announced.
“I was standing there waiting to clap for somebody else,” she says.
“I thought it was going to be another girl. I was looking over and waiting to clap, and then I heard my name go out and my whole heart dropped out of my chest. It was such a shock.”
It took some convincing for Emma to send in her application for the Donegal Rose.
“It was my sister Claire and her friend, Catherine Robinson – she was the 2014 Western Canada Rose,” explains Emma.
“The two of them kind of coaxed me into applying. At the start I said, ‘Absolutely no way’. And then eventually they were like, ‘Oh, you should do it’, and they wore me down basically.
“I sent in my application, never thinking that I would get it or anything. Then even on the day, when I met all the rest of the other 20 girls who were in for it, I didn’t think I was going to get it.”
Since her win, Emma has been enjoying other selection events and getting to know the other Roses from across Ireland and farther afield.
Emma is a proud Donegal woman, having grown up on her family farm. She also has strong connections to one of the county’s most famous attractions.
“My mum has actually worked in Glenveagh coming up now on 50 years,” says Emma.
“She started working there when she was 17. She worked for the last owner, Henry McIlhenny, and then after he left, he asked if she would become caretaker.”
Emma’s parents, Mary and Michael, and her siblings Michael, Declan and Claire, lived in Glenveagh Castle for 16 years and moved to their home in Gartan a few years before Emma was born.
Glenveagh is a “home away from home” for Emma and she has worked there as a tour guide for the past few summers.
“Even throughout the castle, nobody else really knows this, but there’s my sister’s old Spice Girls stickers on the inside of presses and my brother’s old wrestling stickers,” she says.
Disability awareness is one cause that’s particularly close to Emma and her family that she hopes to bring awareness to.
In 2009, her brother Michael was knocked down in Letterkenny and suffered a brain injury which left him paralysed on his right side.
The family have received support from Acquired Brain Injury Ireland since.
“They supply carers that come out from Monday to Saturday, twice a day,” says Emma.
“Without that support we couldn’t function at home because I work, my sister’s moved out, Mum works, my other brother is in Australia and Dad is a full-time farmer.
“He cares for Michael then in the mornings and the evenings when the carers aren’t there. So really, without their support, we’d be lost. So I thought using this platform, I really just want to give back to them.”
A BA History and English graduate of the University of Galway, Emma obtained her Masters degree in teaching from Hibernia College.
She teaches at Errigal College in Letterkenny and was surprised with a guard of honour from staff and students upon becoming the Donegal Rose.
Emma describes her colleagues as the best group of people she’s ever worked with, and her students are excited to see her represent the school on TV.
Equally enthusiastic are the under-8 girls’ football team that Emma coaches at CLG An Tearmainn, where she also plays for the senior team.
The Termon senior ladies won the Division 1 League title at Pairc Mac Diarmada in Lifford on Sunday, dedicating the trophy to their former teammate Róisín McKelvey, who sadly passed away recently.
A love of home is something that is hugely important to Emma, as she represented The Lagoon in Termon at the Donegal Rose selection and attended an inclusive cycling event at Craoibhin Community Enterprise Centre.
“It’s such an honour to represent Donegal because I am such a homebird,” she says.
“I love Donegal, I love Ireland. I’m a history teacher so I would say I’m quite patriotic in a way.
“I did a little tour around Donegal there before I head off now for Tralee. I was down in Slieve League and Killybegs and I was over in west Donegal at Bunbeg beach.”
Emma has a wide network of family, friends, colleagues and teammates who will travel to Kerry to cheer her on next month.
Tralee will be made extra special with a family reunion, as Emma’s brother Declan plans to travel to Ireland from his home in Brisbane, Australia, with his daughters Saoirse and Holly.
Emma hasn’t seen her nieces since their last visit in 2018 and she’s “really looking forward” to seeing them again.
Reflecting on a past family holiday to Kerry, there were a few early hints that Emma might find herself coming back as a Rose someday.
“We visited the town of Tralee and visited the Rose Garden and never did I think that my name would then be in the Rose Garden,” says Emma. “So it’s all a bit crazy.”
Between all the glitz and glam, Emma is passionate about supporting local and sustainable fashion and wears dresses from Donegal businesses and second-hand clothing at the many events she has attended.
As the Rose of Tralee looms, Emma feels she has already won with all the experiences she’s had in the last few months.
She wants to use her platform to empower women and inspire younger generations.
“They are our future, they are where the festival is going to be in a few years, and I think it’s important that everyone gets involved with the younger generation and helping out, like coaching young teams, maybe getting involved in youth clubs.
“Just giving them the tools and the confidence that when they’re growing up they can face anything.
“Maybe myself, I didn’t have the best confidence growing up so I really want to instill that in the younger generation.”
Overall, Emma is “over the moon” as she prepares to head to Tralee and live out her childhood dream.
“It’s going to be the best experience,” she says.
