Ireland--May or October?

Nothing is for sure re the weather in Ireland but May should be drier and a little warmer than late October. I just returned last week and we got sunburned with 2 days of drizzle out of 15 days. The yellow gorse and purple heather were blooming all over and spectacular. Much more than I remember from my fall trips. I once went in September for two weeks and had two days of rain and went the same time the next year and had horizontal rain for 10 days. I never took the raincoat off. I would base the decision on other factors such as the Euro, airfare, etc.

Who knows? :-)

I've been to Ireland in August, when I walked through a steady downpour to visit the lakes at Glendalough (a long raincoat AND an umbrella helped to enjoy the walk very much, though), then returned in March last year, when we had not a single drop of rain for 10 days after a few sprinkles on our first day. I got a sunburn on March 18 at Carrowmore.

I would focus on other factors as Brian said in deciding when to go. Either one should be pleasant. May might be a good time for flowers if you enjoy them.

We just spent all of May. Temps ran from light frost on the ground to about eighty. Most days we wore light open jackets all day. A few days were cold enough for a watch cap most of the day. We had a few days of drizzel that was no real bother.

I would also vote for May. Check when the clocks change back from summer time as you may find late October is back to 'normal' time.....

I always try to be there when the days are longer.

May. Flowers are a bloomin'

i'd opt for May. October can be downright chilly.

I've been during both periods (well, sort of - I've been there LATE May and EARLY October). On balance, I'd opt for May. But I've experienced absolutely great weather in October (even better than what I've seen in May), so either can be great. I suspect that statistically you're better off in May.

By the way, the weather doesn't define whether a trip to Ireland is good or bad. I think you could be there at the coldest/rainiest time of any given year and absolutely love it. Ireland's natural beauty and charm comes through at any time of year.

Whatever you pick, I'm sure you will have a great time.

Why not both. :)

I just got back from a 21 May to 31 May trip. The weather was beautiful but a bit warm. I should have brought sunscreen. We only had a few hours of rain on two of the days we were there. Of course, next May you may find continuous rain and temps just above freezing.

May is just the beginning of tourist season and B&Bs were easy to book. Nothing was very crowded except the Temple Bar area at night and I suspect most of the rowdy crowd lived in Dublin. October is probably more suspect as to bad weather (statistically speaking which has very little bearing on what you'll actually get). Tourist things will be starting to wind down and just about be thinking of closing for the winter if they do that. However, if I could go again this October I'd sure go again.

We had a great visit in early May. The weather was nice and you beat the throngs of tourists that show up in the summer.

I am not an expert on Ireland, just returned from spending May 5th to the 16th. It was cold in the 50's, but virtually no rain while we were there. The only time I opened my umbrella was at the airport for inspection. What I really loved was the long long hours of day light. But I was told to be prepared for anything because it can be cold and very rainy even in August.