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, out of love for Mary O'Connor, a poor maid in service to his family.
[1] In 2019 the Rose of Tralee International Festival, as part of their 60th Anniversary living history promotion, employed the services of Dr. Andrea Nini, a forensic linguist working on cases of disputed authorship.
His report concluded[2] that a poem written by Tralee poet William Pembroke Mulchinock called Smile Mary My Darling was published and passed off by Edward Mordaunt Spencer in 1846 in his book of poetry The Heir of Abbotsville.
[8] The Rose of Tralee is referenced in the title track of Tom Waits' 1985 album Rain Dogs.
"Oh, how we danced with the Rose of Tralee In the film Auntie Mame (1958), Brian O'Bannion (Robin Hughes) sings the first couplet of "The Rose of Tralee" as he finishes dressing to escort Mame (Rosalind Russell) to a black tie event to consider optioning the film rights of her autobiography to Warner Brothers.