Kylemore Abbey’s Connemara 'peaceful ponies' return for a third time to Áras an Uachtaráin

Hannah Kate Costello

A Connemara mare and her foal will spend the coming months grazing the front lawn of the President's official residence, as a pandemic-era tradition continues for another year.

Ruby and her foal Peaceful Pippa are travelling from Kylemore Abbey in Co. Galway to Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin, where they will greet visitors and international dignitaries throughout the summer. A Benedictine nun from the Abbey will make the journey with them.

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. Hardy and sure footed by necessity, the ponies were historically used for farm work across the west — drawing turf from bogs, hauling seaweed from the shore, and transporting families to Mass. 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.