Here's an interesting feature for you faithful friends of JPP. Irish pageant fan David Goodliff provides us with an insightful and interesting look at the lives of the winners of the Miss Ireland Pageant from the past two decades. Thanks David!
1980: Michelle Rocca
One of the most high profile Miss Ireland winners. Michelle went on to mary soccer star John Devine with whom she had two children. The marriage didn't last, however, and she entered into an ill-fated romance with Ryanair tycoon Cathal Ryan, with whom she had one child. This was followed by another high profile romance with musician Van Morrison. Michelle finished 3rd in Miss International and presented both Miss World and the Eurovision Song Contest. Michelle most recently moved to England to further her studies having recently sold her house in Dublin for
£1.5 million.
1981: Geraldine McRory
Geraldine still lives in her native Derry where she owns a chain of
hairdressing salons. In true fariy tale style, she married her childhood
sweetheart Sean McDermott and they have three sons.
1982: Roberta Brown
Roberta was one of the most successful Miss Irelands finishing third in Miss
Universe and seventh in Miss World. Following the unfortunate break-up of her marriage
she currently works in Marketing in Atlanta, Georgia.
1983: Trish Nolan
Tallaght beauty Trish met her future husband, photographer Jim Wilson during
her reign. After they were married, they moved to Arizona, where they ran a
successful photographic agency for several years.
Four years ago, they returned to Jim's native Glasgow where they own a
hotel. They have one son.
1984: Olivia Tracey
Another very successful Miss Ireland. Olivia was 6th in Miss Universe and
7th in Miss World. She said the engagements "never felt like work" and
subsequently built up a career in acting, first in Cinderella, then Lady
Chatterley's Lover and some other productions.
She won a green card to live in America and now lives in Los
Angeles where she models, acts and writes her column for New York's Irish
Echo. She flew back to Ireland earlier this year to compere the fashion show
in the Rose Of Tralee Contest (Ireland's top TV show and most well known
pageant).
1985: Ann Marie Gannon
Ann describes her reign as "controversial". She said her traditional costume was nothing like she had ever seen an Irish woman wear. She thought it was more suited to a Barbie Doll and let her feelings be known. She refused to stand on the table wearing it at the charity auction in a room full of men,
"So I got into trouble for that". There was also a row with roommate Miss UK, Mandy Shires, when Ann used her curlers which was reported in the press. The organisers decided against sending her to the Miss Universe competition and
she only found this out she says by reading the papers.
Ann says, "I grew up a lot that year and there was always the worthwhile side
of seeing all the charities you helped and the people worse off than
yourself." After handing over the crown she modeled for 10 years, five in
Ireland and five abroad. Nowadays this straight-talking beauty runs her own
public relations company, AMG.
1986: Rosemary Thompson
20-year-old Rosemary was a hairdresser from County Antrim. She reached the
semi-final 15 contestants at Miss World in the same year and took part in
Miss Universe. She is the only one of the last twenty winners it has not been possible to
track down.
1987: Adrienne Rock
Former fashion buyer Adrienne continued to model after her reign was over.
She now lives in marital bliss with her husband Andrew Boucher and their two
children and still models occassionally.
1988: Colette Jackson
Colette briefly resurfaced with her Portfolio model agency before leaving to
take over the day-to-day running of the Anne Murray modelling agency in England. She
is currently working as a make-up artist for the Independent Television
Group, also in England.
1989: Barbara Curran
Barbara had a very successful reign placing as a semi-finalist in Miss World. As well as modelling for several years, she studied accounting in the
Accountancy and Business College, Dublin. She has been very sucessful in Business, and currently is the Managing Director of a technology company in Dublin.
1990: Siobhan McClafferty
Siobhan placed second in Miss World and revealed, "I was constantly thinking
about being an ambassador for my country. You're always on show. When the
results were called out and USA (Gina Tolleson) had 81 points and Ireland
had 80 I was thinking 'why so close?' It was hard to lose by one point but
it just wasn't meant to be."
Siobhan said she found Miss Universe much harder because it was six weeks in
Las Vegas which meant a long time and a long way from home. She could only
see her parents for ten minutes at a time with a chaperone and had to
pretend her boyfriend was her brother. She now runs her own business, Cover Shots, in Dublin.
1991: Amanda Brunker
Amanda abandoned modelling for catering, managing Starvin' Marvin's Diner
for a while. Last year, she set up a greetings card business. She has been
dating TV producer Brian Reddin for the past seven years.
1992: Sharon Ellis
During her time as Miss Ireland, social science graduate Sharon got a job
with Translift Airways. She is now working as an Air Hostess for the Irish national carrier, Aer Lingus.
1993: Pamela Flood
Pamela qualified for Miss Ireland by winning the Miss Faces Nightclub
competitiion. After her reign she continued modelling and now works as a
continuity announcer on the Irish TV channel, Network 2.
1994: Anna Maria McCarthy
Anna still works with the charity groups that she got involved with during
her year as Miss Ireland, including the Irish Youth Foundation and the
Arthritis Association. The former Montessori school teacher continues to model and
says that she got her first lead part in a play due to being Miss Ireland.
She also works with The Transatlantic Theatre Company.
1995: Joanne Black
Joanne went on to study at the Gaiety School of Acting. She was recently
home from Hollywood, where she has been busy making contacts to further her
acting career.
1996: Niamh Redmond
Niamh deferred her place for a BA in finance due to three jobs a day as Miss Ireland and her exam dates clashing with the Miss Universe contest. After that things went horribly wrong. She doesn't have happy memories of her participation in Miss World, because of the death of protesters right outside their hotel window. In the middle of her reign, the franchise was sold
and she was dropped from Miss Universe. However, she says the good points
overshadowed the bad. She is now an area service manager for the Angel chain of
fashion stores, has completed her degree, and says that during her year she
met some great people and worked with some great charities.
1997: Andrea Roche
Andrea went on to come 10th in Miss Universe 1998 and worked steadily since, especially on the continent. Recently she won a lucrative contract to promote Irish Spring soap in America. She fell foul of the law in a much publicised speeding charge last year.
1998: Vivienne Doyle
Galway girl Vivienne says that the title has helped her forge a career with
a documentary called A Day in the Life of Miss Ireland, and thanks to that show, she was offered other work. She says her Miss Ireland contract
didn't restrict her at all in that respect and she had been able to do
what she wanted to. She said she didn't enjoy the swimsuit contest but it
was only about two minutes in a two day competition. The worst bit about
giving back the title she said was handing back the Mercedes which went with
the crown. She said learning to drive in it had been really nervewracking
since it was a Mercedes that didn't even belong to her!
1999: Emir-Maria Holohan Doyle
Emir competed in last December's Miss World Pageant, and was slated to attend Miss Universe 2000, but did not compete.