Ruth showing up in County Tipperary (4)
I believe the answer is:
pity
'ruth' is the definition.
(I know that ruth can be written as pity)
'up in county tipperary' is the wordplay.
'up' says the letters should be written in reverse (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'in' indicates a hidden word.
'ytip' is hidden within 'county tipperary'.
'ytip' back-to-front is 'PITY'.
'showing' is the link.
(Other definitions for pity that I've seen before include "Sympathy and sorrow" , "Have sympathetic feelings toward" , "Commiseration" , "Sympathise with" , "unfortunate situation" .)