The New York Rose Center has been hosting its selection events and sending a Rose to Ireland for 63 Years. Steeped in tradition, The International Rose of Tralee Festival connects the global Irish community. Rose contestants are Ambassadors for their local community, and they provide a focal point for the City, County or Country they represent to join in on celebrating and promoting Irish heritage and culture globally.

After a challenging couple of years, The New York Rose Center is thrilled to announce their Selection weekend schedule, which kicks off on Friday May 20th,at 7Pm, with a ‘Meet & Greet’ for the 2022 NY Roses Applicants at Keane's Bar & Restaurant Katonah Avenue. This event is open to everyone, come along to Keane’s and meet the candidates for this year’s New York Rose!

Saturday May 21st is the 2022 Rose Ball and the signature event of the weekend, with Special Guest of Honor, Don O'Neill. Doors will open at 7pm for The Rose Ball which will be a night of Dinner, Dancing and Drinks at The Rosie O’Grady’s, 800 7th Avenue, NY. Emcee for the evening will be the 2015 New York Rose of Tralee Sophie Colgan and guests are invited to put on their dancing shoes (black tie optional) and join current and former NY Rose’s, families, friends and supporters of the Rose of Tralee as they honor world renowned Fashion Designer Don O’Neill.

NY Rose of Tralee Cultural Director Unateresa Gormley put in her own words about Don that he is “An Irish man, a Kerry-man, and perhaps more importantly a Ballyheigue man, Don is a celebrated and successful designer of fashion on the World stage. In a career which brings him from Ballyheigue, to Cork, to Dublin, to London, to Paris to New York - Don is a role model for aspiring young designers and his life achievements signifies what a combination of hard work and creativity can achieve. An inspiration for young men and women, Don and his beloved husband Pascal are a couple who through their love, work and altruism make the lives of those they encounter better. Don’s is a story of creativity, talent, courage, humor, exuberance, perseverance and independence. Don is a great Ambassador for Ireland and America, a person who through his Art celebrates the inspiration that Ireland offers, a fashion designer of the highest level but more than this, he is a dear friend to many, whose deepest wish is to enable people feel good about themselves and using his talent for design simply as the conduit for this greater energy. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, is a saying which first featured in ancient Greece in the 3rd century. On reflecting on the life and work of Don O’Neill, Beauty is in the eye of the he beholder and in the heart and mind of the beheld.”

Tickets for the Rose Ball are available on Eventbrite or by contacting

NYRoseOfTraleeCenter@gmail.com.

The Rose Ball will be hosted by Rosie O’Grady’s

800 7th Avenue, NY, NY 10019

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/new-york-rose-ball-honoring-don-oneill-rose-of- tralee-selection-2022-tickets-330657725157

The final event of the weekend will be the much-anticipated NY Rose Selection which takes place on Sunday, May 22 at The Kerry Hall. Doors open at 2pm.