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Katie Armstrong

Last year, Katie Armstrong, 24, a neonatal intensive care nurse from Lansdale, was crowned “Mary from Dungloe” in the competition commemorating the young woman whose sad love story is told in song.

She then went on to become the International Mary from Dungloe at the end of a week’s festivities in Dungloe, County Donegal, in July. Here, Katie tells irishphiladelphia.com about “the best year of my life.”

1. In all the photographs that appeared in the Irish newspapers after you won the Mary from Dungloe contest in Donegal, you look like you’ve just seen a flying saucer land—absolutely astonished.

(Laughing) Oh, those were horrible pictures and they were everywhere. I never expected to win. I was expecting to hear that the Mary from Kildare or Donegal had won. Then I heard them say "Philadelphia." At that moment I remember feeling so proud to be from Philadelphia and to be Irish. The last American winner was in 1983 and she came from New York. So I was proud to bring that title home to Philadelphia.

2. What made you enter in the first place?

I knew about it because I had actually danced at the pageant one year. But the word “pageant” really turned me off because of everything that goes along with that word. But once I looked into the history of the contest I gained new respect for it. It’s not a beauty pageant. It’s not a catty, horrendous rivalry. Truly, afterwards, I felt like I had 13 new sisters. What it does is encourage girls all over the world to learn about their Irish roots and carry themselves with social grace to be ambassadors for their countries.

3. What are your Irish roots?

My mother (Annmarie Duggan Armstrong) was born in Laois. I got interested in Irish culture through step dancing and going to Irish festivals. My friends all laugh at me. When I hear Irish music, even if I’m sitting, my feet are going.

4. Was your mom incredibly proud of you?

Unfortunately, she passed away two years ago. We had always talked about going back to Ireland together. When I won, one of the first things I thought was that she would be so happy to see me here. At the Mass afterwards, they played “Our Lady of Knock,” which is my and my mom’s favorite song, and I just lost it. I definitely feel that she was there with me.

5.You really took a chance on the talent portion of the contest. Didn’t you change your plans at the last minute?

I had planned to do an Irish step dance, but I love swing dancing. All week I was out in the town, going to ceilis, and I became known as the “dancer from Philly.” I kept asking people if they could swing and everyone kept saying “you need Josie Murray.” Josie is a dancer, an international martial arts champion, and a bartender from Letterkenny and he does jive, which is a lot like swing dancing. So we got together and worked out a little routine and they really went wild.