Tralee

By Georgie Downes
With Kerry winning the All Ireland Football Final and the phenomenal Home Coming parade on Denny Street last Monday, it seems the Kingdom cup is truly overflowing. But there’s more good news. The Rose of Tralee festival just around the corner which means there’s still a week of activities and celebrations to look forward to before the kids go back to school, starting off with the Gowns of Glory Exhibition at the Kerry County Museum, a magnificent display of the beautiful dresses worn by the Roses throughout the decades. The exhibition also details the emotional, sometimes funny and always entertaining stories behind the dresses with videos and audio adding to the overall experience.
Initially, the Roses either made their own dresses or bought off-the-rack but when RTE got involved in 1978, designers began to realise the potential of one of the nation’s most-watched TV programmes and having your dress featured became a much-sought honour.&nbsp;
The exhibition highlights female fashion trends through the years; some are very much of their time with the 1980s puffy sleeves and flouncy skirts while later styles evolved into more understated, sleeker designs. But they all tell their own story. The dress worn by 2006 Rose Kathryn Feeney, for example, was originally intended as her bridesmaid's gown for her sister's wedding, until the bride eloped to a tropical island.&nbsp;

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A replica of the dress worn by first ever Rose, Alice O'Sullivan, is also on display - it is the only knee-length dress in the collection. All the others - excluding that of Maria Walsh, which was a midi dress - are full length. Pop along to see them all for yourself. The exhibition is running right now and entrance is free. See<a href=" kerrymuseum.ie" target="_self"> kerrymuseum.ie</a> for more detai ls.

Gowns of Glory Exhibition On Now

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