Down – Fainche McCormack

I was the youngest of three girls and the baby until a wee brother, Pól Óg, arrived six years later. ‘Middle child syndrome’ was never going to be an issue when given the distinctive name Ferdia - which lasted for three days until it was changed to the even more unique Fainche following Daddy’s consultations with Br Beusang (Christian Brothers Newry). This uniqueness and individuality typifies my character: Ever since early childhood I have always done my own thing, swam against the stream and when everybody would turn right I would turn left (although that might be more down to clumsiness and a bad sense of direction!). I am immensely proud of my family history. The McCormacks come from a long line of hill farmers and I am now in the tenth generation to live in Grinan. My middle name is Ailish after my paternal grandmother who along with my great grandmother (Blue Nanny) would always look forward to the Rose of Tralee and would have relished every moment of this experience with me. Every year at the end of the summer holidays we girls would gather round the tele, tune into RTÉ, take control of the living room for two nights and I would chose my winner. Initially it was the girl who was wearing what I considered to be the nicest dress, however as the years have gone on the judging process has become more complex. The study of A-Level maths introduced charts, graphs and percentiles all to come to the conclusion that all the girls were excellent and anyone of them could be the Rose of Tralee! I am nineteen years old and am passionate about family, friends, helping others, music, education, travel and new experiences.