Bonfires blaze for rose homecoming

SHE may be the Rose of Tralee and Philadelphia but, for at least one night, local girl Maria Walsh was the pride and princess of Shrule and Headford.
Bonfires blazed, balloons blew in the night air, buns were munched and banners were raised high as part of the massive welcome home celebrations late last Thursday night.
Eight-year-old twins Paddy and Jack Reilly had spent their afternoon painting a congratulatory banner for Maria, which they held proudly while perched on a wall as the flames from bonfires lit up the village streets.
Fires were lit outside houses and along the roadside from Cloughanover all the way to Shrule and while Maria hadn’t expected to stop in Headford, she couldn’t not take the time to shake the hands of many of the people who crowded the Square there.
Shrule’s main street was thronged on both sides from early in the night, with locals from the surrounding Galway-Mayo areas eager to wish their Rose well and pass on their congratulations.