Helen McDonogh obituary: death of a pioneering rider with 70-year involvement in Irish racing

Helen McDonogh, who has died at the age of 82, was a pioneering figure in Irish racing and a member of a determined group of women who lobbied to ride against the men in races under rules in the late 1960s.

Under her maiden name, Helen Bryce-Smith was the foremost female rider of her generation in point-to-points. She rode 109 winners in points between 1959 and 1974, an Irish record that endured until surpassed by Liz Lalor during the 2021-22 campaign.

Married to trainer Des McDonogh, she played an important role in the career of Monksfield, a dual winner of the Champion Hurdle in an era of unprecedented strength in the hurdling division.

She provided unstinting support to her husband for over half a century. The couple had three children, and she helped to lay the foundations of the career pursued by her son Declan, who was Irish champion Flat jockey in 2006 and a leading rider for over two decades.

Born in 1941, McDonogh was the daughter of Cyril and Jean Bryce-Smith, an English couple who bought Cherrymount, a farm near Moynalty in County Meath shortly after the end of World War II.

Her mother, the daughter of a Cheshire-based trainer, had a formidable personality and had been a fearless rider in English point-to-points in her day. Her father took out a licence to train in 1947, and the Cherrymount stable soon became a significant force.

In 1955 the Bryce-Smiths landed a major gamble in the Naas November Handicap with Boltown Comet, a horse gifted to McDonogh when she was 12 by neighbouring farmer Captain Gerald Maguire.

Initially, Boltown Comet ran in her name, until the Jockey Club raised objections to her status as a minor following a victory in the Coronation Hurdle at Liverpool. Vincent O'Brien later bought Boltown Comet, who contested the 1956 Champion Hurdle.

In the point-to-point field, McDonogh struck up a remarkable partnership with Still William, a small but strongly-built Vulgan gelding whom she rode to 34 wins, often carrying upwards of four stone of lead.

She inherited a fiercely competitive streak from her mother. From pre-teenage years, she rode work on the Cherrymount gallops. She could always hold her own, riding alongside the likes of Night Nurse's future partner Paddy Broderick, Classic-winning Flat jockey Gabriel Curran, and successful jump jockeys Cathal Finnegan and John Burke, all protegees of the yard.

She gave no quarter in the point-to-point field, her determination illustrated by an incident at a Ward Union fixture, in which she tussled with a horse ridden by her brother John resulting in his mount being brought down.

Helen McDonogh: rode dual Champion Hurdle winner Monksfield to his last victory

McDonogh's spirit of defiance came to the fore in 1968 when she and Jean Moore, another talented point-to-point rider associated with the Tom Costello stable, applied for licences to ride against the men in bumpers.

With the Rooney sisters, Ann (Ferris) and Rosemary, and trainer Peggy St John Nolan also in the vanguard, the women eventually broke down strong resistance to reform mounted by the Turf Club.

On her marriage to Limerick-born McDonogh in October 1971, the couple set up home at Billywood, a small, run-down farm near Mullagh, close to the Meath-Cavan border, which they set about turning into a racing yard.

She competed in bumpers against the top amateurs of the era and won the inaugural series of Flat races for women in 1972, getting into the money in races at Phoenix Park and Gowran before winning the third and final leg at her local Navan track.

Three months after giving birth to Declan, she enjoyed her most memorable success on the track on Monksfield in the BMW Amateur Hurdle at Down Royal in April 1980, the 19th and final victory of the stallion's illustrious career.

When Monksfield arrived at Billywood after her husband purchased him for 740 guineas at Ballsbridge in May 1974, McDonogh provided the ungainly colt with a solo education on a plough gallop of scarcely two-and-a-half furlongs. She knew all the quirks and oddities of the much-loved champion whose career was marked by determination and resilience.

McDonogh exemplified those same qualities in human form and was still riding out in her 70s. Not even the painful ailments of her final years could keep her away from the devoted routine of stable management that was her life from childhood. 

She is survived by her husband Des, children Shona, Declan and Ashling, her brother and former trainer John Bryce-Smith, and seven grandchildren.