Kirsten Mate Maher

Kirsten Mate Maher was the winner of the 2018 Rose of Tralee festival. Of Irish and Zambian heritage, she is the first African- Irish rose to win the event.

Early life and Rose participation
Mate Maher was born in Mullinavat, County Kilkenny to an Irish mother and Zambian father who served in the Zambian army. Her father went back to Zambia before she was born, and returned Ireland when Mate Maher was two.

She went to school in Ferrybank, on the Waterford and Kilkenny border.

In April 2018, Mate Maher entered Waterford's Rose Selection for 2018 and won the contest thus earning the rights to represent the county in Tralee. She appeared in the Dome on August 20 and then on August 21 won the entire festival.