Robert Francis Ruttledge was born in Brownshill, County Carlow on 11 September 1899. He was the eldest son of Thomas Henry Bruen Ruttledge and Mary Caroline (nee Browne-Clayton). Ruttledge grew up in County Mayo, at the family home of Bloomfield House.
He attended Marlborough College and later the Quetta cadet college, India.
Ruttledge married Mabel Rose (nee Burke) in 1928, with whom he had two daughters. Ruttledge served in the Indian army in the 34th (1918-1921) and 17th Poona Horse (1921-1934). His citation was:
Lieutenant
Robert Francis Ruttledge.
34th Poona Horse, attd. 21st Cavalry, F.F. Foreign gallantry and devotion on the 21st November, 1919, between Jatta and Murtaza Posts, when, after a brisk engagement, the troops under the command of Captain Byrne were ordered to retire.
Lieutenant Ruttledge, observing that three dismounted men were in difficulty getting a wounded man away, and realising that the retirement would be delayed, galloped back in face of heavy fire, took the wounded man on his horse, and carried him to a place of safety. He also served with the Poona Horse during the operations on the North West Frontier 1930-1931.
He was appointed commandant of the bodyguard of the governor of Madras from 1934 to 1939.
Ruttledge was transferred to the Special Unemployed List as a Major in April 1939, but he was recalled in September 1939 to the Poona Horse at the outbreak of the World World War II however he was invalided out before he returned to active service. Ruttledge has been described as one of the founders of Irish Ornithology, having played a key roll in the observation of birds and the establishment of bird sanctuaries. He published his first paper at age sixteen in the Irish Naturalist on the birds of Lough Carra, and went on to publish over 200 papers over his lifetime.
Ruttledge is cited as being a key figure in highlighting the decline in Ireland of the Greater white-fronted goose, which allowed for the protection of the Irish population of these birds.
Ruttledge was involved in the establishment of the bird sanctuary on Saltee Islands and Cape Clear Island. Ruttledge launched the Irish Bird Report (now Irish Birds) in 1953, and continued to edit it for 19 years.
In 1961 he was awarded the Bernard Tucker Medal by the British Trust for Ornithology, and an honorary doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin, in 1981. Ruttledge served as the first president of the Irish Wildbird Conservancy (now BirdWatch Ireland), with the Greater white-fronted goose as it"s emblem.
