Does anyone here know of anyone who is currently enrolled in either programme or has completed either in the recent past? The programme structure and faculty looks fantastic, but the University of Galway is not highly ranked, nor have I heard much about the programme from other students. Since it's not as well known, I was hoping to hear about the quality of the programme from anyone on this forum who might have a better idea (even if you haven't attended yourself).

What are you looking to do after your masters? Galway is not the best university in Ireland but is still respected and you could definitely make contacts in the human rights sphere that might be helpful for finding work in that area.

I'm looking to come back to India and practice here. So my main concern with the LLM is the quality of teaching/programme (networking etc is secondary). And the reason I'm asking about Galway is that it 3 of the professors, who among them teach 5 or 6 courses in the Migration/Refugee Law LLM, seem fantastic. The profile of these professors was closer to what I'd seen at the absolute best universities, and didn't really match Galway's mid tier ranking.

The other reason is that they've got a Refugee Law LLM which appears to have been given some thought. It's got some very interesting modules. And my main interest area is Refugee law. 

To be honest, although I've never studied there myself, I'd say the programme at NUIG is pretty good. The Irish Centre for Human Rights is there and notwithstanding the higher status of UCC, TCD and UCD it's pretty prominent in human rights and plenty of good people go to study there - a friend of mine did an LLM in Human Rights Law at NUIG after our undergrad and with her grades and experience she could easily have got into a good UK university, not to mention TCD or UCD which she would have walked into. 

It's my understanding that if people outside Ireland or the UK have heard of any university in Ireland, it'll be Trinity, outside of academic circles. As a result, I think you're right not to rely on Galway for networking since I imagine a lot of potential employers in India will never have heard of it. I'd say you'd get a good education in Galway but I can't speak to your prospects back in India I'm afraid! 

If it helps at all: Galway is a small city but with a great atmosphere and generally a pretty good place to live, as far as I know.