Date for Dublin City Colours Boat Races announced

The official coin toss has taken place for the 2026 Dublin City Colours Boat Races.

The annual event, now in its 76th year, is taking place on the River Liffey on Saturday, March 21 and will see crews from Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and University College Dublin (UCD) race heat-to-head from O’Connell Bridge to St James’s Gate.

Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Ray McAdam, and Jane Williams, President of Rowing Ireland, officiated at the coin toss, which is held every year to decide which side of the River Liffey crews race on and, for the first time this year since racing started, the order of the men’s and women’s races.

Race organisers have also used the official coin toss to announce that the Colours Boat Race is being officially supported by Dublin City Council as part of a new multi-year agreement between the local authority and the rowing clubs of both TCD and UCD.

As part of this arrangement, the event previously referred to as the Colours Boat Races has been renamed the Dublin City Colours Boat Races.

This year’s event is taking place as Dublin University Ladies Boat Club (DULBC) – the official name of Trinity’s women’s rowing club – celebrates its 50th anniversary.

The prestigious club was founded in 1976 by a group of women including Jane Williams, who was also the club’s first captain.

Williams, who was elected President of Rowing Ireland, the sport’s governing body, in 2024, is from Clonmel in Co Tipperary and, at age 15, was part of the first women’s crew to compete for Clonmel Rowing Club. She studied Business Studies in TCD from 1971 to 1976.

As part of this year’s Dublin City Colours Boat Races, a total of four races will take place between senior and novice eights crews from Trinity and UCD starting from 10.30am on Saturday, March 21.

DULBC won the coin toss to decide the stations in the women’s races and chose the South station.

UCD won the coin toss to decide the stations in the men’s races and chose the North station.

The coin toss to decide the race order resulted in the women’s races going off after each of the men’s races meaning the women’s senior race will have top billing on race day for the first time.

All of the crews will race over 2km upstream and under eight bridges from the starting line at O’Connell Bridge to the finish at Victoria Quay/St James’s Gate.

The races involve the 76th edition of the Gannon Cup, which has been raced by Senior Men’s Eights since 1947, and the 45th edition of the Corcoran Cup for Senior Women’s Eights.

UCD is seeking to make it five wins in a row in both Senior races.

In the Men’s Senior Race Trinity will also be seeking to stop UCD from taking the lead in the overall Gannon Cup series for the first time since 1976.

Both Trinity and UCD currently have 37 wins each in The Gannon Cup. There was a dead heat in 1950.

The Corcoran Cup  was originally a Senior Women’s Coxed Four event, but evolved into an Eights race in 1993, due to increased participation by women in rowing throughout the country.

Trinity has recorded 17 wins and UCD has 27.

The Colours Boat Races began in 1947 when the Gannon Cup was presented in memory of UCD Boat Club Captain Ciaran Gannon who was killed while on active service with the Royal Army Medical Corps in Burma in 1944.

Since then the list of races has expanded to include the Corcoran Cup in 1980, the Dan Quinn Shield for Novice Men’s Eights in 2004 and the Sally Moorhead Trophy for Novice Women’s Eights in 2005.

Trinity has won the last five Novice Men’s Eights races while Trinity won the Novice Women’s Eights race last March with a spectacular late push that put them half a length ahead at the finishing line.

Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Ray McAdam said: “I was delighted to officiate at the coin toss for this year’s Dublin City Colours Boat Races.

“This is a fantastic historic and annual event that brings one of Ireland’s top sports to the heart of Dublin’s City Centre.

“It offers the rowers of UCD and Trinity a wonderful opportunity to compete on a special course and it provides a chance for the public to witness a spectacular morning’s racing involving both novice crews and some of the country’s leading and most successful rowers.

“Dublin is a great city to live and work in, but it is also a great city for entertainment and for sporting occasions.

“This is a city that welcomes and makes room for sporting events like this and I would like to commend Dublin City Council for supporting what is now referred to as the Dublin City Colours Boat Races.

“I wish all the crews, their coaches, their clubs and their universities the very best of luck.”

Jane Williams, President of Rowing Ireland, said: “It was lovely to join the Lord Mayor in officiating at the coin toss for this year’s Dublin City Colours Boat Races.

“This is an important event in the annual rowing calendar and Rowing Ireland is delighted that it is being supported by Dublin City Council.

“University rowing is a key part of the success and growth story of Irish rowing and the clubs of both Trinity and UCD have a proud history of nurturing the sport and, indeed, of racing wins.

“It is brilliant to see the Dublin City Colours Boat Races continuing to be held on the traditional course through Dublin’s City Centre.

“As a founding member of Dublin University Ladies Boat Club, I am proud that this year’s event is marking the club’s 50th year.

“As President of Rowing Ireland, I would like to wish all the crews the very best of luck.

I would also urge members of the public to come along on March 21st to watch what will be a morning of high-quality head-to-head eights racing.”