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Miss Limerick 2020 –  Amy Kerr, 2nd runner up, Kyla McGowan, Miss Limerick 2020, Aishling Kelly, 1st runner up and Bonnie Dowling, 3rd runner up. Picture: Paudie Bourke
 

Aspiring human rights barrister Kyla McGown is crowned Miss Limerick 2020

miss limerick 2020

Miss TLC – Maeve Yee, Miss Tipperary 2020, Kyla McGowan, Miss Limerick 2020 and Rebecca O’Neill, Miss Clare 2020. Picture: Paudie Bourke

The combined Miss Tipperary, Miss Limerick & Miss Clare (Miss TLC) virtual event took place on Facebook Live this past Sunday, September 27 broadcast from Dani’s Showroom in Limerick.

The Miss Limerick pageant has acted as one of the main events of the city’s social calendar for over three decades. This year also marked the unprecedented merger of the Miss Limerick, Tipperary and Clare events – a necessary step in order to present these events in a safe and regulated manner that adheres to all COVID safety regulations. 
 
There were four overall winners from Limerick on the night. Kyla McGown was crowned Miss Limerick 2020, Aishling Kelly was 1st runner up, Amy Kerr was 2nd runner up and Bonnie Dowling was 3rd runner up.


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Kyla, 19, from Newcastle West, Limerick is a law student at Trinity College Dublin and is very passionate about becoming an international criminal and human rights defence barrister. In addition to having a career in law, she hopes to use her voice for those who feel like they don’t have a voice. She would also like to raise awareness of mental health and suicide prevention.

Aishling, 23, from Corbally, Limerick, is a student at Mary Immaculate college currently doing a Masters in Primary Education. She is over the moon to have placed as 1st runner up in the Miss Limerick final and looks forward to representing Limerick in the Miss Ireland semi-finals. Aishling wishes to use her platform to engage with local communities and charities and promote all that Limerick has to offer. Bringing more awareness to mental health and well-being is also something that is very important to Aishling.

Amy, 19 from Limerick City. She is currently a student at Limerick Institute of Technology studying Property and dreams of one day opening her own auctioneering agency. She said “I am ecstatic to being crowned the second runner up! I am very much looking forward to continuing on this journey and represent Limerick in the next stage of Miss Ireland which is the Semi-Finals. I hope to use this platform to spread awareness for learning disabilities by speaking out on the issues and work alongside a local charity in support of this. I’m really just grateful to have an opportunity to make a small difference with some positivity and welcome both the challenges and platform that the Miss Limerick competition will bring”.

Bonnie is a 25-year-old special needs assistant from Raheen, Limerick. She studied applied languages in UL and went on to complete a masters in translation in NUIG. She would love to go back to college someday to get her teaching qualification so she can teach Spanish and Irish. She is passionate about educating people about the power of language and how to avoid language that is offensive to certain groups in society. She is so honoured to have placed as 3rd runner up in the Miss Limerick Final and thoroughly enjoyed the experience and met some amazing people.

The Miss Clare crown went to Rebecca O’Neill, 19, from Shannon and Maeve Yee, 22, from Cashel was crowned Miss Tipperary 2020.

The winners of Miss Limerick, Miss Clare and Miss Tipperary will compete in the final of Miss Ireland 2020 later this year. Open to girls aged 17 to 24, the Miss Ireland competition was established in 1947 and is one of the world’s longest-running beauty contests. The pageant judges its contestants not only on beauty but also on other important traits such as interview skills, charity work, talent, health and fitness and appropriate social media skills.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
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#Repost @iammcloughney with @make_repost ・・・ What a night!!! What a journey!!! What a team ❤️ First of all massive congratulations to the new Miss Limerick @kyla_mcgowan_ the new Miss Clare @_rebeccaoneill_ and the new Miss Tipperary @maeveyee ??? Thank you to my friend and partner in crime in this endeavour the incredible @esmewallace without whom none of this would have been possible ? Thank you the lovely @sarahjane_danisshowroom from @danisclosetandshowroom for making everyone’s dreams a reality ⭐️ Thank you to @keanes_jewellers @alexandra_dental and @annerhotel our title sponsors ? Thank you to @lawlessflowers our flower sponsor ? and to @glitzi_bitz our crown sponsor ? thank you to @smomakeup @beautyatelier.irl and @sheer__creations for providing socially distant hair and makeup ? Thank you to @paudiebourke our official photographer and @reiddylan our official videographer ? thank you our crew @____medvify006_____ and @justanotherbrownguy ? To our incredibly talented songstress @christina_alcazar_ ? Thank you to the hostess with the mostest @baileymariegavin ? thank you to our MC @lauren_guilfoyle and our amazing judges @mandycatwalk @eoinsheehan @emma_austin_ @ciara_ohalloran_ and @kirsty___downey ?? A special thank you to our marketing guru @thedinnycroshow ? And finally a massive thank you to all of the contestants, their families, their friends and everyone who watched our event online and made it a success ❤️ roll on Miss Ireland #misstlc #misstipperary #misslimerick #missclare #thankyou @misstipperaryofficial @misslimerickofficial @missclareofficial @missirelandorg

A post shared by Miss Limerick ? (@misslimerickofficial) on


The competition aims to build confidence and self-esteem in its contestants and has acted as a launching pad for many successful, empowering Irish women including Holly Carpenter, Aoife Walsh, Sarah Morrissey, Andrea Roche, Amanda Brunker, Michelle Rocca and the 2003 Miss World winner, Rosanna Davison.

The competition has also brought success to many of the pageant’s finalists who have gone on to have huge success in modelling, entertainment, and social media such as Shauna Lindsay, Niamh Cullen, Niamh De Brun and our MC Lauren Guilfoyle.

 
This combined event was directed by male model and blogger Patrick McLoughney and Former Miss Sunday World and Miss Tipperary Esme Mansergh Wallace. The team were keen to stress the safety measures that were taken for the event to happen. Esme said, “We really wanted to make this event possible so that the contestants could have something to look forward to and dress up for, as this is something we have all been starved of for the last six months and who knows for how long more? But we knew the only way that this event could happen was if there were extreme COVID safety measures put in place, such as face coverings, temperature checks, social distancing and frequent hand sanitisation. We are truly delighted with the results and we really feel that the girls have all had a really positive experience despite the lack of a live crowd and some of the traditional elements of a Miss Ireland heat”.

The MC for the event was former Miss Clare Lauren Guilfoyle who now works as a Physiotherapist, Sports Journalist and Social Media personality. The presenter of the event was Miss Tipperary South 2019 Bailey Gavin. There were five judges on the night including Limerick’s own Celebrity Chef, Eoin Sheehan, international model agent and owner of Catwalk Models, Mandy Maher, Miss Limerick 2019 Ciara O’Halloran, Miss Clare 2019, Emma Austin and Miss Tipperary 2019, Kirsty Downey.  Miss Limerick North 2019 and the winner of Miss Ireland 2019 talent contest, Christina Alcazar performed a breathtaking live singing performance at the event during the judge’s deliberation period.

Patrick was keen to add “we are delighted with how the event went and the response and feedback we’ve gotten from the contestants, their families and everyone who watched online. It was a massive challenge to make this event happen while adhering to government safety standards and ensuring the safety of everyone involved at all times. We were under a lot of pressure to make this happen and happen safely but with the event management expertise given to me by my good friend James Hayes from Blue Streak events, the Miss Ireland experience of Esme and my own knowledge of the modelling and entertainment industry we managed to put on a show that did justice to the Herculean effort put in by all involved”.
On behalf of the team behind Miss TLC, they would like to thank all of the amazing sponsors for all of their support on this year’s double final.
 

For more info on Miss Ireland, click HERE

For more stories about Miss Limerick, click HERE

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Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.