Caoilfhinn Ní Choiligh becomes second-ever Westmeath Rose to be crowned Rose of Tralee

By Rebekah O'Reilly

It was another milestone night for the Lake county on Tuesday night, as Westmeath's Caoilfhinn Ní Choiligh was officially crowned the Rose of Tralee 2026.

The 25-year-old became only the second-ever Westmeath Rose to receive the honour, stealing the hearts of the nation by sharing her story of living with alopecia areata, an autoimmune condition where the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy hair follicles.

After losing her hair to alopecia at the age of 15, Caoilfhinn turned that experience into something deeply meaningful by creating The Hairloss Haven, a group which supports women experiencing hairloss, and is now studying to become a wig maker alongside her work in retail.

"I don't think this is real. I am so overwhelmed," Caoilfhinn said on stage at the Rose of Tralee Festival after being announced as the winner.

She paid tribute to the other 31 Roses, adding that she "honestly would not have been able to do this without these girls".

“It’s amazing. I’m definitely lost for words. And I’m just really excited now because I think there’s so much that can be done with this title, especially for the people online who don’t watch the festival and don’t see the things that are going on behind the scenes, if they get to see that there’s much more that a Rose can do and what they can achieve.

“I think Katelyn did amazing in her year. I have very big boots to fill, but I will certainly try my best. Thank you.”

Continuing, Caoilfhinn said: “Embrace your imperfections and never let someone dull your confidence and your self-esteem, because it definitely happened to me and it took me a long time to try and get that back.

“Sometimes you do have to put yourself out of your comfort zone. This was definitely exposure therapy to me, of the highest degree, but I think it helped me really find who I was among the chaos of it all. It put me to the test and I just really appreciated how resilient I am.

"I’m quite an emotional person, I’m surprised I’m not crying now, but I wear that as a badge of honour, I really do, because emotion is so powerful, and it’s something that I think we shouldn’t apologise for.”

Speaking yesterday, Tuesday, in a rare quiet moment before being crowned, Caoilfhinn said there’s so much more to the Rose of Tralee than is shown in the media and on the telly night.

“There’s a lot that goes into it and you really appreciate the volunteers and the community that gets behind the different events.

“We’ve had an absolute blast. I’m really sad it’s coming to an end, but, actually it doesn’t have to end here.

“I hope to bring a lot back to my community, and also I get to do different events with my Rose sisters in the future, so it doesn’t end here. I’m just really going to make the most of it now.”

Asked about her on-stage performance for live television last night, Caoilfhinn said she used her experience of doing theatre and “went into performance mode”.

“I was able to keep myself composed and just get through it. I just wanted to do my little piece for my community and let them know that there’s support out there for them.”

Caoilfhinn’s piece with host Kathryn Thomas was about her wigs, as she is living with the autoimmune disease alopecia.

Speaking on stage on Monday night, Caoilfhinn noted that she “recently hit the ten year mark of having Alopecia, and I was like 'You know what, I do have tips that could really help other people'.

“It kind of led me to start my own Hair Loss Haven community with my friend Saoirse who also has alopecia that I met online.”

Through The Hairloss Haven, Caoilfhinn and her friend Saoirse provide support and information to those who are experiencing any kind of hairloss, be it from alopecia, cancer or for another reason.

From the other side of the stage a trolley was rolled out sporting some fabulous wigs on the table.

Caoilfhinn explained that these were her wigs and she would be demonstrating the range of options people have when it comes to hair loss, or simply just those interested in wig wearing.

Speaking after her appearance, she said she was delighted with the positive response.

“It really is overwhelming, it’s amazing, and I can’t take the compliments almost... what is really nice is to know that it was worth doing because I was a bit worried – I didn’t want to be known as the one who did the wigs, because obviously they’re not going to remember all our names, and so I didn’t really want to be reduced to that, because I am so much more – there’s a lot that makes me me and makes me resilient, and that is only one very small bit of it – it’s just something that happens to be visible.

“There’s definitely a lot more to my story that I would hope to educate people on and let them know that you can be a Rose no matter what, your imperfections, your background, and just never doubt yourself.”