Ireland entered the first Miss World contest in Britain in 1951. But the contestant was withdrawn when it was realised she would have to wear a bathing suit.
Over half a century later, Ireland's first Miss World, Rosanna Davison, won the beachwear section - in a far more revealing bikini - in her bid to become crowned as the world's most beautiful woman.
Backstage, minutes after the announcement in the tropical Chinese city of Sanya, Ms Davison was calm and collected in a far less revealing fuschia evening gown. Wriggling her feet slightly in a pair of silver stilettoes with four-inch heels, the 19-year-old student said she was surprised at her self-possession.
"I don't know what's wrong, I'm surprisingly calm. But I was close to tears after the final five were announced because I was so happy getting that. This means so much to me," she said quietly.
At the party to celebrate her victory over 105 other beauty queens, Miss World kept very much to herself, chatting with boyfriend James Montgomery in a corner with her family nearby.
Her father, singer-songwriter Chris de Burgh, who is no stranger to celebrity, was similarly calm.
"It's quite exciting, we had no idea this was going to happen. It's all beginning to hit home now," he said, casting a protective eye over his daughter.
De Burgh, who will feature his daughter on a forthcoming record cover, said he didn't think success would go to her head, or put pressure on the family. "It's not going to happen, knowing our family, which is a very solid and close family."
Asked what it was like to be Miss World's boyfriend, James Montgomery said he didn't think about it.
"It's not because I didn't think she'd win, but it's not something you think about every day," he said.
Ms Davison was happy to be in China for the first time - and China, basking in the positive public relations the contest has generated, was happy to have her and the other contestants.
The pageant has been a sensation here. China had never hosted it before, and the contestants were mobbed wherever they appeared in public.
In the western city of Xian, home of the terracotta warrior army of Emperor Qinshi Huangdi, crowds of 50,000 lined streets and blocked squares to catch a glimpse. The city drafted in 9,000 policemen and paramilitaries for the walkabout.
This year, for the first time, the women did not parade on stage during the finals in swimwear.
Instead, contestants were shown briefly in their beachwear on two screens either side of the stage.
