The 2026 Dublin City Colours Boat Rowing Races will take place on the River Liffey on Saturday, March 21, with crews from Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and University College Dublin (UCD) racing head-to-head through the city centre.
The historic event, now in its 76th year, will see eights crews compete over a 2km upstream course from O’Connell Bridge to Victoria Quay at St James’s Gate.
This year the event has been renamed the Dublin City Colours Boat Races following a new multi-year support agreement between Dublin City Council and the rowing clubs of TCD and UCD.
The official coin toss for the races was conducted by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Ray McAdam, alongside Rowing Ireland President Jane Williams.
For the first time, the coin toss also determined the order of the races. The women’s races will follow each of the men’s races, meaning the senior women’s contest will have top billing on race day.
Dublin University Ladies Boat Club won the toss for the women’s races and selected the South station. UCD chose the North station for the men’s races.
Four races are scheduled from 10.30am: senior and novice eights for both men and women.
The senior men will compete for the Gannon Cup, first raced in 1947, while the senior women will contest the Corcoran Cup.
UCD is aiming for a fifth consecutive victory in both senior events. In the men’s series, Trinity will seek to prevent UCD taking the outright lead in the Gannon Cup standings for the first time since 1976. Both universities currently have 37 wins each, with one dead heat recorded in 1950.
The 2026 edition also marks the 50th anniversary of Dublin University Ladies Boat Club, founded in 1976 by a group of Trinity students including Jane Williams, who served as the club’s first captain.
Williams said the race remains a key fixture in the Irish rowing calendar.
“This is an important event in the annual rowing calendar and Rowing Ireland is delighted that it is being supported by Dublin City Council,” she said.
“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.”
Lord Mayor Ray McAdam said the race provides a unique sporting spectacle in the capital.
“This is a fantastic historic and annual event that brings one of Ireland’s top sports to the heart of Dublin city centre,” he said.
“It provides a chance for the public to witness a spectacular morning’s racing involving novice crews and some of the country’s leading rowers.”
The Colours Boat Races began in 1947 with the introduction of the Gannon Cup, presented in memory of UCD Boat Club captain Ciaran Gannon, who was killed while serving with the Royal Army Medical Corps in Burma in 1944.
Additional events were added over time, including the Corcoran Cup for women in 1980, the Dan Quinn Shield for novice men in 2004 and the Sally Moorhead Trophy for novice women in 2005.
All races pass under eight bridges along the Liffey, offering spectators multiple vantage points along the route through Dublin’s city centre.
