At last, it’s time. Ireland’s long racing season is set to draw to a close on the second weekend in July, with the National Championships scheduled for July 11th-13th, ensconced within the isolated beauty of the National Rowing Centre in Farran Wood, Co. Cork. It’s been a spectacular few months of racing in the women’s eights, from the early-season excitement in Enniskillen at Erne Eights Head of the River, to the Metropolitan Regatta where speed was tested against the best the UK could conjure, to the recent Cork Regatta, which was the last chance for crews to lay down a marker.
The thought of the season coming to a close is saddening, yet there’s no boat like the eight to act as a grandstand finale to another growth year for women’s rowing. All are aware of the eight’s magic; the noise, spectacle, and speed are unparalleled, and a win gives you a sharp moment in time where the world is temporarily, beautifully, at your feet. The next rulers of Irish rowing will be crowned this weekend, and the entries for the women’s senior eights mean claiming this title will be no easy feat.
University College Dublin Ladies Boat Club / Old Collegians Boat Club
The first of many composite crews limbering up in the category this weekend, the UCD/OC crew is perhaps the only one universally expected. It’s been a project boat for the Belfield natives all year, although the lineup features a few key changes from their Cork Regatta entry, which placed second behind the University of Limerick. Eimear Muldoon and Tara Phelan, compatriots from a talented coxless four that raced at Henley Women’s Regatta, replace Breanna Larsen and Lauryn Roche, respectively. The experienced Hannah Devitt has driven this crew relentlessly all season from the coxes’ seat, and their youthful vigour crossed with raw power and experience makes them one to watch this weekend.
University of Galway Boat Club
UG has pulled out all the stops in creating this crew as they seek to reclaim the senior eight for the first time since 2022. The squad has suffered through two devastating second-place finishes since then, both to the University of Limerick, and a return to the heights of that legendary ‘22 season would be spectacular for the Westerners.
Joining the current students of UG are alumni Fiona Murtagh, Emma Waters, and Ciara Butler. The latter pair have plyed their trade Stateside this year, at the University of Washington and Rutgers University, respectively. Waters sat in the Washington second eight that placed second at NCAAs, while Butler’s time in the Rutgers second eight concluded at Henley Royal Regatta, where they were knocked out on the Thursday.
Finally, Murtagh needs close to no introduction. She’s come second to Lauren Henry at the European Rowing Championships and World Rowing Cup II in the single, demonstrating ferocious sculling speed after spending most of her international career in sweep boats, including a bronze in the four at Tokyo 2020. Murtagh stroked the senior eight that last won for UG in 2022, and perhaps her return to the fold will act as the last part of the jigsaw for an already gifted crew.
University of Limerick Rowing Club
UL are fielding an identical eight to the one that triumphed confidently at Cork Regatta. Back-to-back national champions in this boat class, the pinnacle of elite domestic rowing, they’re a strong crew that have displayed significant progress throughout the season.
A somewhat slow start to the year, with a heavy margin from the top of the field at Erne Eights, saw something of a pickup by the University Championships in April, where they placed third. It’s been a slow and steady rise since then, including being the fastest Irish eight on the Sunday of the Metropolitan Regatta and eventually taking the senior eight win at Cork Regatta.
A well-drilled crew on the rise all year, the only question that can be left is if their additional time together and squad cohesion will be enough to hold off the weight of the crews that have pulled in alumni and composite entries to try to snatch a victory.
Dublin University Ladies Boat Club / Skibbereen Rowing Club
Another composite entry, it’s an entirely fresh-and perhaps bizarre-lineup. The women of Skibbereen and Trinity, a four-hour journey apart, will possibly be meeting, training, and racing together for the first time this weekend, but it’s certainly an incredible lineup. From Trinity, Grace Healy, Imogen Cooney, María Mezquita García-Poggio, and Addy Telzrow line out, while Kelly Oforji, Aisling Hayes, Aoife Casey, and Emily Hegarty represent the red and white of Skibbereen, Ireland’s most successful club. Hegarty and Casey raced for Team Ireland at the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games, with Hegarty taking home bronze in the four (alongside Murtagh of UG) in Tokyo. Hayes has joined the senior international team this year, racing in the quad at European Rowing Championships and the four at World Rowing Cup II, while Oforji attended the Coupe de la Jeunesse 2022 and Home International Regatta 2024. The Trinity representatives, meanwhile, are a gifted bunch, taking first and fifth in the senior pair at Cork Regatta and uniting for a dominant win in senior coxed four, a category they’ve controlled all season.
St. Michael’s Rowing Club / University of Limerick Rowing Club
This all-Limerick composite is made up of a remarkable blend of athletes, from Sinéad Jennings, who raced at the Rio Olympic Games in the lightweight double, to youngsters Aida Hehir and Cloda Phillips, who won the junior pair at the Championships last year. It’s a crew filled with prestige, with every member having some accolade of note to their name, including Elisa McInerney and Áine Phillip’s win in the academic coxed four at the Metropolitan Regatta 2022. Miriam Fleming was in UL’s senior eight, which triumphed at the Championships last year, and her preference to race this composite crew is perhaps of note. It’s an intriguing lineup, and their inclusion of junior athletes will make it a particularly interesting one to compare against the more established university crews.
University College Cork Rowing Club
Rounding out the entries, by last but no means least is a sharp entry from UCC. The skull and crossbones of UCC got out to a blazing start this season, stamping out a decisive win at the University Championships, but have slightly faded off-pace since then. They didn’t join the Irish contingent at the Metropolitan Regatta over the June Bank holiday, preferring instead to get more training time in, but this didn’t pay dividends as they placed fourth behind UL, UCD/OC, and UCD at Cork Regatta. However, they’ll be bolstered by the return of Olympian Margaret Cremen, and their crew also features Clíodhna Nolan and Tara Payne, recently preselected for the 2025 Home International Regatta. They’re led out by Noah Giltinan, a young standout on the coxing scene with a number of international appearances under his belt.
Prediction
All indicators point to a clash for the ages. It’s set to be a race that has everything, from Olympians to junior athletes alike, from age-old to new rivalries. UL will seek to solidify their reputation as the top women’s squad in Ireland, an argument hard to counter if you have three consecutive wins in the senior eight. UG will do anything within their power, and more, to get over those last two heart-rending losses to UL- will Murtagh’s return be enough? The DULBC/Skibbreen composite has a terrifying amount of potential, but will they meld into one unit quickly enough? Can UCC, a club on the rise, go one further? Can the Limerick composite go toe-to-toe with more expected talent? Will the UCDLBC/OC lineup have enough to do what they set out to achieve at the start of the year? Enough narratives are present to occupy one for a lifetime.
It’s incredibly difficult to say, and if it’s not a very tight race, I’ll be astounded, but I’m going to call it for UG. It’s an industrial-strength crew that carries enough heartbreak in this category to fuel six eights, never mind their own. The DULBC/Skibb behemoth can’t be set aside, despite the tall order of bringing an eight together in a very short period – there is a simply spectacular amount of talent on board. The final iteration of the UCD/OC composite cannot be ignored, and I think the medals will fall in that order.
