Connemara ponies Ruby and Peaceful Pippa return to Áras an Uachtaráin for third summer

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A Connemara mare and her foal are heading to the President’s residence for the third year in a row, continuing a beloved pandemic-era tradition. Ruby and her foal Peaceful Pippa are travelling from Kylemore Abbey in Co. Galway to Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin, where they will spend the summer grazing the front lawn and greeting visitors and international dignitaries.

President Catherine Connolly, who has deep roots in Galway, said she was ‘delighted’ to welcome the animals. ‘Connemara ponies have an important place in the culture and heritage of West of Ireland life,’ she said.

The initiative carries particular resonance this year given that both Kylemore Abbey and the President share ties to the west of Ireland. The Abbey, originally built as a castle in 1870 and later purchased by a Benedictine community fleeing wartime Belgium, has maintained a herd of Connemara ponies on its estate since 2019.

Mother Karol O’Connell, Abbess at Kylemore Abbey, said the ponies had become a woven part of daily life for the community. ‘Each spring, we look forward with great joy to the arrival of the foals, watching them take their first steps and grow in stature and personality,’ she said.

The Connemara pony is Ireland’s only native breed. The Connemara Pony Breeders’ Society was founded in 1923 to protect and promote the breed, which now competes internationally in showjumping, dressage, and eventing. All foals born at Kylemore Abbey carry the ‘Peaceful’ prefix, a tradition begun with the first foal, Peaceful Pascal, born on Easter Sunday 2020.

The visit is open to members of the public touring Áras an Uachtaráin throughout the summer.

Article and image source: breakingnews.ie

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