Hi all
I am planning my trip to Ireland this year in April/May. I have been to Ireland 7 times in as many years. Being Irish myself. (Both parents born in Ireland one in Donegal the other in Belfast) I always find something I haven't seen.
My question is what is the weather like in April/May? All of my holidays have been in October/November time frame never in the Summer or the Spring. To be honest I am truly looking forward to going this time of year.
Thanks for any advice you all may have.
We toured Ireland in May and it was great. We had rain one morning that was done before we finished breakfast and headed out. The locals said they had had a unusually rainy April but that May is normally the driest month.
The weather was cool to warm but always comfortable.
I always use yahoo.com webpage for weather. It provides average temps by month for the year for any city.
We visited the tulip fields in Holland one April and found everything green and colorful.
Our last trip to Ireland was in late May and we were totally unprepared for the weather. It was cold and some days were rainy. We started the trip in the Burren/COM area and proceeded to Dingle where it was even colder. Trips to Aran Islands were cancelled due to bad weather. It was so cold crossing the Shannon that we had to stay in the car. Be prepared with your clothing--wear layers and make certain you have a warm jacket. I left my beautiful Irish sweater at home and regretted it the entire trip. The trip before that one we went in Early August and it was fairly warm.
My wife and I were there the last two weeks of May 2008 and weather was great. I think May is actually Ireland's best month weather-wise. Sure, like any month in Ireland (as you know!) it might get chilly and it might rain, but most of the time it should be cool and clear.
I'd definitely be prepared for all weather but I think you'll find it a good bit warmer than November. Temps in the 60's and occasional rain.
Of course, early April might be fairly different than late May, so the closer you travel to late May the more likely that the weather will match my description.
Enjoy your trip!
You asked about the weather, here's a chart showing average weather by month for one location in Ireland, scroll down to Dublin http://tours.ricksteves.com/tours09/weather.cfm
I was there one year in early April. Most days were sweatshirt weather days, one was drizzly, and in the Knockmealdown mountains the wind was freezing (but it was sunny). The rest of the week was sunny, but we always wore at least light jackets.
Your average high is in the upper 50's and low in the middle 40's. Sunset on May 1 is 8:55 P.M.
