When Galway goes green and gold for Donegal Tuesday

Hundreds of students start queueing early in the morning at the typical ‘Donegal Tuesday’

placeholder image — Hundreds of students start queueing early in the morning at the typical ‘Donegal Tuesday’

Associated with the colours of maroon and white, the City of Tribes becomes flooded with a sea of green and yellow jerseys in Eyre Square for one day out of the year

Every year, Donegal students in Galway gear up for one of the biggest events in the social calendar.

In the last 15 years, this day has become popularised and celebrates the great county that Donegal is!

The City of Tribes has always been a hotspot for thousands of young Donegal people to study. Associated with the colours of maroon and white, it becomes flooded with a sea of green and yellow jerseys in Eyre Square for one day in the year.

It’s a day where the social norms do not apply and it is socially acceptable to start drinking at 10 am. Hundreds of students start queueing early in the morning at the typical ‘Donegal Tuesday’ hotspots such as An Pucán, Barr an Chaladh and The Hole in the Wall, to begin their big sesh for the day.

Donegal is one of the three counties that has a day dedicated to it on Galway Rag week, as it is accompanied by both Mayo Monday and Leitrim Wednesday. It is the week that allows students to let their hair down before they start studying for important exams towards the end of the second semester.

The day is an unofficial event in Rag –Raise and Give- week. Galway’s Rag week usually takes place in the second week of February. In case you didn't know, Rag week’s true purpose is to raise awareness and money for both local and national charities.

This year, the University of Galway Students’ Union announced their charities of choice for the 2025 RAG week were Galway Rape Crisis Centre and Galway Autism Partnership. Many events took place over the week to raise funds for these important causes, which included NUIG and ATU Galway going head-to-head on Thursday in a competition which featured teams from both colleges facing each other across a range of sports. Until next year!