About Us

Rutherford's started out as a one man operation in the late 1970's. John Rutherford is a native of Cootehille, Co. Cavan. He's the father of five children who were involved in Irish Dancing, in particular the competitive end of Irish Dancing, and saw a need for improvement in the sound and durability of the existing plastic heels & tips containing only a small narrow layer of fiberglass. So Mr. Rutherford set about experimenting on his children's dancing shoes with completely solid hytech fiberglass heels and a special mixture of fiberglass tips. The childrens' shoes were a rage within the dance school and word of mouth spread like wildfire throughout the feis scene. Soon it seemed everyone was having their existing heels and tips replaced by the increasingly popular Rutherford Fiberglass Hytech Heels & Tips. The demand was so great for the heels & tips that the next step was to sell the Jig Shoes complete from the start. With the emergence of Riverdance and Lord of The Dance, and Rutherford Shoes being the shoe of choice for these shows, Rutherford Products impeccable reputation soared to an international level and is now a well known name in all facets of Irish Dancing throughout the world. Mr. Rutherford, who still keeps his hand in the Production end of the business is always striving to improve his product and create new innovative ideas. He has learned a great deal by his constant interaction with customers and dancers throughout the years and finds this end of the business most rewarding. He never shys away from a good long conversation with the customers and thoroughly enjoys hearing the news of the latest World Champion to wear the famous Rutherford Hytech Fiberglass Products! Today, among his most loyal customers are 8 of his grandchilren who now are actively involved in Irish Stepdancing. 80% of the staff at Rutherford Products are former Irish Stepdancers, including 2 who placed 2nd in the world championships in Dublin in the 1980's. We firmly believe this gives us a distinct advantage, both in customer relations, and the design and quality of our shoes. We've been there before and know what works and what doesn't work.