Aga Khan 90 Years of the Nations Cup at the Dublin Horse Show

Tommy Wade, Diana Conolly-Carew,

Seamus Hayes and Col. Billy Ringrose,

Nations Cup, Dublin, 1963.

This exhibition takes an in-depth look at the history of the Nations Cup at Dublin, from its beginnings in the turbulent years of the 1920s up until the present day.

The physical version of this exhibition was shown in the RDS Library during Dublin Horse Show week in 2016. Here you can learn about the history of the Nations Cup at Dublin from the original exhibition, watch a short film made to accompany the exhibition and browse through historic images from the Dublin Horse Show Archive.

This online version of the exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Colonel Billy Ringrose, who sadly passed away at the age of 89, on April 30, 2020.  

Colonel Billy Ringrose had a long and illustrious career as one of Ireland’s greatest showjumpers. He competed twice in the Olympic Games, at Stockholm in 1956, where he came 23rd in the individual and 7th in the team event and, in Rome in 1960, where he finished 17th in the individual event. He also won seven international Grand-Prix titles and rode for Ireland on numerous Nations Cup teams.

Colonel Ringrose was also a rider on Ireland’s first mixed military and civilian Aga Khan winning team in 1963 and was chef d’equipe for the ‘Dream-Team’, of Eddie Macken, James Kernan, Captain Con Power and Paul Daragh, who achieved three consecutive Nations Cup wins for Ireland at Dublin from 1977-1979.

Colonel Ringrose continued his association with the Dublin Horse Show and the Nations Cup, in his role as RDS President (1999-2001), when, along with the President of Ireland, he presented the Aga Khan trophy to several Nations Cup winning teams.