Louise Buhler does it all for the love of Ireland
A woman with all the luck of the Irish talks to Kris Boult.
If you’re thinking of becoming the next Taranaki Rose of Tralee then Louise Buhler is probably the first person you’ll need to impress.
For it is she, and the Taranaki Irish Club, that organise the annual event that sees young, unmarried women of Irish descent competing to be named Rose of Tralee - the person who best embodies the words ’lovely and fair’ contained in the song of the same title.
The winner gets to try for the national title and the chance to represent New Zealand at the International Rose of Tralee Festival in Ireland.
This year that honour fell to Niamh O’Sullivan, of New Plymouth, and although she didn’t win the Rose of Tralee title when the festival came to an end earlier this week, Buhler was delighted for her success - after all, she made the same journey more than 30 years ago.
In 1984, Buhler, who grew up in Kaponga on a sheep and dairy farm run by her Swiss mum and Irish dad, became the first Taranaki girl to represent this country in Ireland.
‘‘Your heritage is really important. You don’t realise how much information is lost when a generation dies. The Irish heritage is really important to everyone,’’ she says.
Her sister, Maree, had won the Taranaki title in 1976 but didn’t manage to clinch the national sash.
‘‘I didn’t realise I was the first Taranaki girl to win the NZ title but the support I received was amazing,’’ Buhler recalls.
‘‘The years of work the Taranaki Irish club and the foundation members had put into Rose of Tralee had all paid off.’’
Buhler says she only entered the competition because her sister, Patricia, was getting married.
‘‘Josie Hogan, who organised the Rose of Tralee around that time, had asked my sister the year before and she said, ‘Oh no, I’ll go in it next year’. But come time to do the competition she was getting married.’’
So Hogan asked Buhler, who was 20 at the time.
But Buhler was initially reluctant and said she would do it the next year.
But Hogan wasn’t taking no for an answer. ‘‘She said, ‘You can’t do what your sister did and go off and get married so I’m gonna grab you this year.’’
This was Buhler’s first involvement in the Rose of Tralee competition, and she didn’t quite realise what it involved.
It wasn’t until she got to the New Zealand final that she found out from the previous year’s winner what happened in Tralee.
‘‘I always knew the Taranaki girl would go through to the New Zealand final and that the New Zealand girl went through to Ireland but I never thought much past that.
‘‘I knew you went to Ireland and then to Tralee but didn’t know exactly what they did, I thought it was like the New Zealand contest.’’
Buhler said because we didn’t have social media back then and we couldn’t watch the competition on TV, it wasn’t until she got over there that that she realised how big the event, and the festival that surrounds it, was.
She describes her reaction as an ‘‘oh wow’’ moment.
‘‘It was a real experience and you were just someone from New Zealand who suddenly became a celebrity for a week and everyone wanted to shake your hand and get your signature.
‘‘It was such an amazing experience to meet so many people from all around the world.’’
But soon afterwards life was back to normal.
Buhler, now 53, got married a year later to Peter and family followed. The couple have six children - three boys and three girls aged between 18 and 31 - and farm at Otakeho.
She didn’t follow the competition much afterwards, but would occasionally go along to one of the Irish Club cabarets and got more involved if she knew someone who had entered the Rose of Tralee.
‘‘It was always quite nice when a Taranaki girl won and you would be quite proud of that,’’ she says.
‘‘My nephew’s now-wife entered the Rose of Tralee in 2008 and became the Taranaki Rose.’’
Her enthusiasm rekindled Buhler’s own enthusiasm and she offered to help out at the Taranaki Irish Club.
‘‘And offering to help out now brings me to being the organiser today,’’ says Buhler, who is also the club’s president.
‘‘I’ve just kept it going really, it’s good to keep it open so other girls of that age have the same opportunities.’’
The Irish club started 50 years ago in Kaponga and Buhler knew a lot of families involved growing up.
‘‘My first memory was going to Christmas parties as a littlie.
‘‘I started to learn Irish dancing in the 70’s and we would have an Irish dance teacher come all the way from New Plymouth once a week to teach us.’’
Buhler said Irish dancing is very much like people will have seen in Riverdance on TV.
Dancers generally start at around five or six years old some of the skills they learned could also prove beneficial in the Rose of Tralee competitions.
‘‘The main benefits will be in learning about stage presence and confidence but also getting used to being in front of an audience.
‘‘But also the social aspect and the chance to meet people on the way.’’
As her own children grew up Buhler wanted someone to teach them Irish dancing but couldn’t find anyone to do it.
Then someone suggested she teach it herself.
‘‘So I updated myself and got some new music and here I am 17 years later.’’
Buhler now teaches Irish dancing to kids at the Holy Trinity Church Hall in New Plymouth every Wednesday during school term.
‘‘I love it, I enjoy the music and it’s also good fitness but it’s good going out in the community and entertaining.’’