Germany Rose has links to Tipperary and entered to 'reconnect to her Irish heritage'
The Germany Rose in this year's Rose of Tralee competition, Sarah Ann Fritz, spoke to Tipperary Live about how the festival has been so far.
With the Rose of Tralee beginning this week, the 'Germany Rose', Sarah Ann Fritz, who also has links to Tipperary, spoke to Tipperary Live about how she’s finding the experience so far.
Sarah, who was born and raised in Augsburg, Bavaria, has a German father and an Irish mother. Sarah’s mother Margaret is originally from the village of Clogheen in Tipperary.
Sarah tells Tipperary Live that she spent many summers in Ireland during her youth.
"Spending most summers in Ireland deepened my love for both cultures, and I still return whenever I can," says Sarah.
Sarah shares that she works as a Clinical Research Associate, where she's passionate about bringing new treatments to patients through clinical trials.
"Knowing my work can offer hope and save lives gives purpose to every day. I also recently completed my Mental Health First Aider course, as I believe mental well-being is just as vital as physical health," she says.
As a Rose, Sarah hopes to inspire young girls to pursue careers in science and believe in their potential.
Sarah says that she grew up watching the Rose of Tralee every summer as a young child. “When we went to my grandparents' home in Tipperary every summer, watching the Rose of Tralee was the highlight of our summer. My sister and myself watched it and were always very impressed with the ladies on television and the way they were able to communicate and present themselves.”
Sarah describes the past week as surreal, and explains what made her enter the competition this year.
“It wasn’t until the beginning of this year that I decided I’d enter the Rose of Tralee. I had a dream about it and I usually can never remember my dreams, but I remembered this dream. I looked up the competition and realised that it was still going strong. I did some research and found out there was a Germany Rose centre in Frankfurt. I saw applications were open and entered the competition.”
Sarah then goes on to explain how entering the competition is reconnecting her with her Irish heritage.
“I think this was my subconscious telling me to reconnect with my Irish heritage,” she begins. “I was born and raised in Germany and obviously we went back and forth to Tipperary every year to visit my grandparents.
"Obviously since working I haven't been back and forth as regularly as I would have liked to. It is just really really nice to reconnect to the Irish roots and Irish heritage. And doing that with all of these wonderful ladies, it’s a magnificent feeling.”
Every year, the Roses embark on an unforgettable adventure when they first meet in Ireland, and begin their National Rose Tour, exploring different parts of Ireland and learning more about the country’s great heritage and culture. Sarah explains what they’ve been doing this week so far.
“We started in Meath, we’re in Kenmare now and we just arrived in Tralee,” says Sarah. “The first day we went to an amusement park, it was a nice ice breaker to get the girls on the roller coasters and we all had such a great time. Yesterday we went to a water park too. We also went to a traditional farm where they had sheep and they showed us how traditional Irish bread is baked. They also told us about Poitín, the Irish alcohol.”
Sarah says that her highlights so far since entering the festival have been meeting all of the incredible girls who entered alongside her. “We have bonded a lot and have made life-long friendships through this, as well as memories that will last a lifetime. It’s just been an incredible experience.”