Trinity College Dublin (TCD) provost Dr Linda Doyle will be guest of honour at a dinner this Saturday Feb 7 to mark 50 years of women’s rowing at the university.
Founded in 1976 with just ten members, Dublin University Ladies Boat Club (DULBC) has become an established force to be reckoned with in Irish sport.
Fresh Beginnings - TCD Freshers’ Week 2025 brings generations together, pictured (l–r) Millie Nolan, DULBC founder and first captain Jane Williams, current captain Eliza Barrett-Cotter, and founding member and second captain Shirley Roycroft.
The club secured its first national title in 1979 in the women's coxed four, and has won 33 national titles since then, including three in 2025.
Henley Glory - The Dublin University Ladies Boat Club four that secured victory at Henley in 1996, marking a landmark international success for the Trinity-based crew.
DULBC crews have represented Ireland at international events, ranging from the Home International regatta to the Olympics.
DULBC oarswoman Aifric Keogh from Galway was a member of the coxless women’s four that took bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Keogh will be one of the speakers at Saturday’s event, which will open with a welcoming address by club president Rowena Mulcahy.
Championship Charge - Dublin University Ladies Boat Club’s club four at the 2024 Irish National Rowing Championships, continuing the programme’s strong domestic record.
The club’s first captain and key founding member, Jane Williams, now president of Rowing Ireland, will also speak, as will Dr Doyle and current DULBC captain Eliza Barrett-Cotter.
Title Triumph - The DULBC Intermediate 4+ crew at the 2025 Irish National Championships: from left, Addy Telzrow, María Mezquita García-Poggio, Jane Prendergast (cox and captain), Imogen Cooney and Grace Healy.
Williams and early members, including Shirley Roycroft, Anne Blaney, Mary O’Connor, Dara Breaden and Deirdre O’Hara, had to overcome a certain resistance to women’s rowing among established clubs on the river Liffey in the late 1970s, not least within Dublin University Boat Club.
There is now much closer co-operation between the two clubs.
DULBC's changing fortunes, its many successes and the lifelong friendships formed will be recalled at the 50th anniversary event, which will include a slideshow of over 300 photographs and images put together by Claire Ludlow with contributions from past club members.
