Meteorology in Ireland

Abstract

The earliest weather records for Europe are found in the annals of Ireland, and tell of disastrous floods and droughts rn far back as about 2 7 0 0~. c . Such references are the only meteorological data available for years prior to the middle of the 17th century, when the barometer and thermometer were coming into use. An Irishman, Robert Boyle, did important work in developing both instruments, but the first published numerical data are pressure readings by the Bishop of Cloyne, contributed to the Royal Society in 1676.No Irish thermometer readings are known earlier than those for 1721-2 by 0. Rye, who kept a careful weather diary in his experiments on variations of human perspiration. Unfortunately his thermometer was not standardized, so that the readings are of little value ; the freezing point of water was at about 70', whereas 25' was reached on a hot summer's day ! Rye lived near Cork, and it is remarkable that the earliest Irish rainfall measurements were in the same area. They were made by Dr. Timothy Tuckey in the years 1738 to 1748, but they also are not comparable with modern measurements.In the second half of the 18th century the centre of activity moved to Dublin, and by 1753 temperature readings for Dublin in degrees Fahrenheit

Ireland, the Irish Meteorological Service and ‘The Emergency’

“…During the latter part of the nineteenth century, further meteorological stations werc established in Ireland, including a series round the coast maintained by the British Meteorological Office (Dixon 1950). The first of these coastal stations was sited near Cahirciveen (Kerry) as part of the telegraphic network of observing sites introduced by Admiral FitzRoy in 1860 (Murphy 1987).…”

“…There is little doubt that this move coincided with wider developments in communications, as a permanent telegraph link between Valentia and Newfoundland had been established during the previous year with Graves as superintendent of the cable station. In 1860, as clerk-in-charge of the telegraph office at Jersey, Graves had been in correspondence with FitzRoy concerning the transmission of weather observations by telegraph to the Board of Trade (De Cogan 1984, 1998 (Dixon 1950).…”