THE grieving parents of a former Rose of Tralee contestant have made a bid to buy a hotel in her memory less than a year after she passed away.
Dorothy Moriarty Henggeler, who was the 2011 Washington Rose, died last April, a week before her 28th birthday, after a five-month battle with a brain tumour.
Her heartbroken parents, who live in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, have tabled an offer to purchase the hotel where all the Rose contestants stay during the annual festival.
Dorothy’s mother, Eibhlín Moriarty, is a native of Killarney and comes from a well-known and popular local family. Two of her sisters still live in the town, Anne O’Shea in O’Sullivan’s Place and Maura Fitzgerald in Inchicullane.
Eibhlin and her husband, Dick Henggeler, made a bid for Fels Point Hotel in Tralee to commemorate their beloved daughter.
Dorothy is buried in Killarney’s Aghadoe Cemetery, alongside her younger sister Teresa, who died, in the early 1980s, after contracting meningitis when she was just two and a half.
The Henggelers have sold their business in the US and told of their desire to invest in the 165-bdroom Tralee hotel in which their daughter stayed by means of a contribution to the annual pageant.
They hope hotel profits would help to replace the regular festival marquee with a permanent dome on a site adjacent to the hotel which is being sold by NAMA.
Rose of Tralee committee chief, Anthony O’Gara, said it was a remarkable gesture of generosity by the Henggelers.
“A permanent dome is the ultimate aim for them and for us. It would be a massive boost,” he said.
Consideration would be given to re-branding the facility the Rose of Tralee Hotel.
The Henggelers have maintained their close association with the festival since their daughter’s death and were moved that so many people turned out for her funeral in Killarney last year.
During her all-too-short life, Dorothy had a great love for Killarney and visited relatives in the town every year. She has several cousins in the area and loved spending time with them every chance she got.
Dott – as she was affectionately known – was a big fan of the Dr Crokes GAA club and also closely followed the fortunes of the Kerry team.
She worked with Tourism Ireland in Manhattan, New York and she was a very active volunteer with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
