Weather in August: Need AC?

There is probably little need for AC. When they have a heat wave, it might get into the upper 70's, or even 80, but not for prolonged periods (and it cools off at night). You are more likely to encounter rain.

Thanks Nancy and Emma...

Actually, I am just tracking temps to get an average "idea" of what to expect during the hottest summer weeks. Thanks for the reassurance that AC won't be needed. It will be nice to escape the N.E. USA heat and humidity for 2 weeks!

Actually, temps in the cities can get pretty warm in the summer months in Ireland. On our own trip last year we booked a place in a Dublin hotel that was great...except that the brick building it occupied tended to absorb heat during the day and was slow to release it even though overnight lows were in the low 60's and high 50's. My wife is particularly sensitive to that sort of thing and suffered a bit until the room cooled down enough (by around midnight to 1 AM) to make it comfortable for sleeping....even with all of the windows thrown open and a window fan blasting away.

In the "for what it's worth" department, for our next trip I've already been directed to find a place with A/C whenever we stay in the city.

We also found (in both Derry and Dublin) that when we opened up the windows to try to cool the room down we let in all of the outside street noise which, even using soft ear plugs, made it difficult to get a good night's sleep. Contrast that with a place we stayed in Belfast which had A/C - we were able to keep the windows closed, shutting out the street noise and assuring a good night's sleep.
There are plenty of hotel options in the cities you propose to visit that will have A/C. In B&B's and in the countryside...not so much. While it's strictly a subjective call we found from hard experience that when we needed it, we really needed it.

Exciting that you're planning a trip to Ireland -- it's a fantastic country! My family and I are currently living in Dublin (we're American but doing the expat thing for a few years), and I think you can be pretty safe taking the chance without AC. Today (late july) when we went out during the day we were all wearing our fleeces and one of my sons was wearing the coat he wore during the winter (granted winters are mild here but still...) A lot of us still had our heat on into June! So I'd say don't worry too much about AC, and as another post said definitely pack layers!

Let me put it this way, no matter what time of year I am going, I bring gloves...I think you will be fine without it.

We were in Dublin for five days last August. It was rainy a few days, then it was " warm" and sunny. Folks were laying out in the sun at the parks. Must have hit 72-73 degrees, lol .
We did not have ac and would have not needed it as it cools at night.

Unless you are particularly sensitive to warmth( I can't even classify it as heat ) then don't worry!

Only place you may find A/C is in the Airport and possibly a rental car.

Ireland as a whole is having a seasonably mild/cold summer right now per the locals.

The only time I felt the heat was in the mornings when my wife and I both took showers, and she would run the hair dryer it really heated up the room. Other then that just open up the windows and its comfortable. We did not sweat once in Ireland over 16 days and some days it hit in the 60's.

Talk about a shock to the body when we spent 16 days in Ireland and come back to the states and its 100 degrees with heat index of 115.