RUTH Rogers was laid to rest in Ashbourne, Co Meath, at the age of 78 last Monday afternoon after her wonderful life was celebrated during her funeral service at St Mary’s Church in Moate.
She touched the heart of many people nationwide as these lovely tributes show.
RUTH played a central role on our committee at the Midlands Connemara Pony Breeders Group. Her love of the Connemara Pony has always been at the heart of her work. She was our official PRO and spokesperson, while also playing a key organising role in all our events including our annual show and group outings.
In the earliest years, she officiated as our chairperson and instituted novel ideas that more than stood the test of time. Ruth refined our All Ireland Broodmare Championship which continues to prove a great success and for which she will always be remembered. Her profound knowledge and popularity was always highly acclaimed and was one of the many reasons she was never refused sponsorships or support from whatever organisation or institutions she approached.
She had a very real interest in tracing old bloodlines and was able to document all the information and research in a way that was most useful and helpful to all Connemara Pony breeders. Ruth will be sadly missed by all our members and indeed all Connemara Pony enthusiasts - Irene O’Sullivan on behalf of the Midlands Connemara Pony Breeders Group
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I’ve known Ruth Rogers for 50 years and we missed her greatly when she abandoned racing to go to the Connemara Ponies but we met occasionally in the years in between and we were very happy to host her and her group here recently. They were one of the most appreciative groups that ever visited us and were very interested in what we do here. We were shocked at her sudden passing. Ruth is a great loss to all her relatives and friends and to the country in general – Jim Bolger, racehorse trainer and breeder
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Ruth was a great friend of all here in Mullingar Equestrian Centre. She was a major cog in the wheel of the Midland Connemara Pony committee who are responsible for running a hugely successful annual show here in Mullingar every July.
Ruth had huge energy and wisdom and played a major role along with the rest of the team here in the growth of our horse sales over the last few years.
She was a familiar figure around the sales ring, following out the lots as they were sold to get their picture taken and she took great pride in the development of the photographic area which was her initiative.
She will be sadly missed by all her friends and colleagues here in Mullingar, RIP Ruth - Robert Fagan on behalf of all at Mullingar Equestrian Centre
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Our fondest memories of Ruth are of the many cups of tea we had together from the boot of our jeep at Connemara Pony shows. Ruth always joined us between classes for a cup of tea and a chat and we always had ‘Ruth’s cup’ in the picnic box.
The many wonderful pictures from the RDS and Clifden on our kitchen wall are testament to Ruth’s great skill as a photographer and we always looked forward to reading her show reports in The Irish Field.
As we drove to Catstone Lodge last Sunday evening, it was very sad to think that Ruth’s cup would not be used again and that there would be no more Monday morning emails with images of the previous day attached and no more Monday morning phone calls discussing and clarifying details and results of classes.
Ruth will be sorely missed by her countless friends, brought together through the Connemara Pony.
Her memory will live on in the form of all her exceptional photographs, articles and publications.
Rest in peace dear Ruth - Sinead and Patrick McGrath
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I first met Ruth while training in a large photographic studio in Dublin. It was 1979, and I was assigned to produce prints for Ruth who was a client from her various shoots. We got along well, so at the weekends she would bring me out to various equestrian events including racing.
This introduction to the world of equestrianism, and more importantly guidance by Ruth who was regarded as being at the very top in her chosen profession of photo-journalism, both in Ireland and well beyond Irish shores, was huge for me. I gave up my job and worked with her for a year and I learned so much.
Ruth always enjoyed her wins with her four-legged friends, and one I will always remember was when her filly Lady Nightingale, who was bred by Joe Barry at Larchhill Stud, won at the Galway Festival. That was one heck of a celebration afterwards.
With that big heart of hers she gave of her time and knowledge freely and I cannot ever say a big enough thank you to Ruth. Without her I would never have met my wife whom she introduced me to, and I quite simply would never have had the career I did.
I hope wherever she now is, she has a camera, a dog, and a horse nearby - Tony Parkes
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I first met Ruth many years ago when she was researching for an article about Connemara Ponies. From that day on we remained firm friends, enjoying many a chat over a cup of tea. Ruth worked tirelessy to promote and publicise the Connemara breed through her career as a photojournalist. Ruth will be sadly missed from our shows, inspections and all other pony related events. May she rest in peace – Henry O’Toole, Castle Connemara Ponies
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Ruth has left us a legacy of her incredible photos and stack of ‘Ruth stories,’ about her loyalty, kindness and Google-like knowledge of pedigrees.
The abiding memory is her looking expectantly around the room at The Irish Field awards, never expecting it to be herself, before Brendan McArdle announced that the Special Contribution award recipient was indeed Ruth Rogers, ‘the’ photographer. An old-school soul with a heart of gold, shows won’t be quite the same without her presence - Susan Finnerty
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A pall of sorrow fell on the Connemara Pony world as word filtered through of the passing of Ruth Rogers.
The equine first charmed a young Ruth through the athletes managed by her father George who was a racehorse trainer. Indeed Ruth’s grandfather bought Master Robert, winner of the 1924 Grand National, while Ruth’s Uncle Charlie first discovered Brown Jack the six-time winner of the Queen Alexander Stakes as Ascot.
It was through her family’s association with the Sport of Kings that led Ruth to become a photo journalist capturing many of Ireland’s racehorses in the 60s, 70s and 80s.
For us, in the Connemara Pony world it was through her work as a journalist and advocate for the breed that we came to know and befriend Ruth Rogers. In 2004 Ruth, along with Ann Reade, rejuvenated the society’s annual publication An Capaillín which she edited and produced for many years before creating her own publication The Review. Ruth also co-edited The Legacy of Cannon Ball, a stallion pedigree book, from which Ruth gained a comprehensive knowledge of our breeding lines.
Many of us would look forward to buying The Irish Field every Saturday to read Ruth’s articles, breeders’ profiles and show results. In February last, Ruth was presented with a special recognition award for her contribution to the industry at the Irish Horse World awards in the K club, in Kildare.
Looking back to 2005, one may remember a team of Connemara Driving Ponies owned by the Droege family from Germany appearing on RTÉ’s The Late Late Show delivering the show’s host Pat Kenny to the studio.
This valuable publicity for our breed was the result of tiresome and unrelenting work by Ruth.
Ruth was a respected member of the Midlands Connemara Pony Breeders Group officiating in every capacity on the committee. Her diligent work and that of her colleagues has seen the hugely popular Midlands Connemara Pony Show go from strength to strength.
Ruth equipped with her camera and notebook was a familiar sight every August in the ring in Clifden. Her absence will be sorely felt.
When Ruth took on a project she did so wholeheartedly, her research was intricate and left no stone uncovered, but yet she was endearingly modest in her achievements and successes.
Breeders, enthusiasts and the breed have lost a loyal friend, may she rest in peace - Connemara Pony Breeders’ Society
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Ruth was a fantastic ambassador for the Connemara pony and a great friend of Ballyconneely Show. She will be sorely missed by all her friends in the Connemara pony world. May she rest in peace – Ballyconneely Pony Show
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As she did with so many people, Ruth Rogers came into our lives through a mutual love of Connemara ponies. The tributes being paid to Ruth on social media speak for themselves. The legacy that she has left behind is only overshadowed by the incredible reach that her friendship has had around the world.
She was a fantastic supporter of the breed with no self-promotion or personal agenda. Breeders in Ireland and around the world, and indeed the breed itself, has lost a true advocate and a great friend to so many.
Ruth’s presence inside the show ring as a photographer and outside the show ring as a friend will be sorely missed in Clifden, the RDS, and so many more shows. Ruth’s repertoire of photos must be immeasurable at this point, and after a lifetime’s work of collecting photos, stories and memories, we should count ourselves incredibly lucky that so many of them have been documented and archived for generations to come.
We have been lucky enough to welcome Ruth to our yard on many occasions to photograph our stallions and the results were always amazing and are now treasured positions.
May she rest in peace - Joe and Eamon Burke, Cloonisle Stud
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I got to know Ruth about 20 years ago when I started to meet her at shows. She had her own personality, she wasn’t one for small talk and she was always asking questions about breeding and ponies, she was very interested.
She came for a visit one evening and did a piece on Cashelbay Ponies. We became friendly and she would come to the Athenry Show and would always do something in The Irish Field and of course she would complain about the show taking entries on the day!
She asked me quite a few years ago would I sponsor a class at the Midlands Connemara Pony Show. Ruth had a way about her and it was very hard to say no. She called me about two weeks ago, just before she passed, and she said ‘my apologies I wasn’t able to make Athenry Show this year, I wasn’t up to it’. But she didn’t neglect to do her duties and she said ‘you are sponsoring this year Robbie’. I told her I would and she said ‘I’ll see you then’ and she invited me to the little function they have after the show.
She had great energy and interest and she will be dearly missed. She’ll be a huge loss to Connemara and the Connemara Pony. - Robbie Fallon, Cashelbay Stud