YESTERDAY WAS ST. Swithin’s Day, and so the fate of Ireland’s summer was to be decided by the presence of either rain clouds and puddles or sunshine and dry roads.
As the tradition goes, the weather on St. Swithin’s Day paves the way for the rest of the summer months, and if there is rain on 15 July, the rain will continue for another 40 days.
Well, there were showers in most parts of the country at some stage yesterday, so if you’re a fan of superstition it would probably be safe to keep an umbrella on hand at all times.
But what do the experts have to say? Met Eireann correctly predicted that this morning would dawn fairly cloudy, murky and wet across the country, although some let up is expected later today.
However more “organised rain” will return tonight, with some of it hanging around on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday looks set to be the wettest day of the week, while it’s more promising for Friday with a mainly dry day forecast.
It looks like it will be fifty/fifty for the weekend, with showers on Saturday and some “warm sunshine” predicted for Sunday.
Who was St. Swithin?
St. Swithin was a bishop of Winchester who died in 862. When he passed away he was buried outside rather than inside the cathedral, at his own request.
However, in 971 his remains were moved to an indoor shrine and, as the story goes, the relocation was accompanied by 40 days and nights of rain.
It’s thought that the legend of St Swithin and his connection with the weather stems from these events.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say