<P> "The Rose of Tralee" is a nineteenth - century Irish ballad about a woman called Mary, who because of her beauty was called The Rose of Tralee . The Rose of Tralee festival had been inspired by the ballad . </P> <P> The words of the song are credited to Edward Mordaunt Spencer and the music to Charles William Glover, but a story circulated in connection with the festival claims that the song was written by William Pembroke Mulchinock, a wealthy Protestant, out of love for Mary O'Connor, a poor Catholic maid in service to his parents . </P>

That made me love mary the rose of tralee