It's National Umbrella Day and we're Irish! Above all else, the Irish know life's about learning to dance in the rain!
Anyone who’s spent any time in Ireland knows exactly how useful it is! On average in the West of Ireland, it rains up to 225 days per year.
Of course, Ireland has a lot to thank its mild temperate maritime climate for! It’s lush green fields, the countryside’s famous 40 shades of green and of course, its wonderful crops, meat, and dairy!
Who did rain ever hurt? Sure we won't rust!
Here’s why:
Good for your skin
Rain: Good for your skin.
Soft rain helps complexion, say the experts, and you are bound to get lots of it if you live there.
Forty shades of green
Rain: Responsible for forty shades of green.
How do you think the place got so green looking? It’s the water stupid, falling and endlessly falling.
Cozy nights in
Rain: Responsible for cozy nights in.
What can be nicer than snuggled up at a fire with the rain falling and wind howling outside? Many a child was created because of the stormy night.
The official explanation
... The science bit!
From Ask About Ireland: “Geography places Ireland at mid-latitude, not too close to the heat of the equator or to the cold arctic and its position on the north-western edge of the continent ensures a constant supply of clean unpolluted air and plenty of cleansing rain from the Atlantic Ocean.”
Year-round rain
Rain: Year-round rain... a constant.
Not just a rainy season, no monsoons, more a steady diet of showers and not too extreme.
Great climate to grow crops
Rain: Great climate to grow crops... and cows for that matter.
Lots of rain means lots of growth and Ireland has some of the healthiest food in Europe.
The jokes
Rain: The jokes... sure if you didn't laugh you'd cry.
For example, “I went to Ireland for a week and it rained twice, once for three days and once for four days.”
Har, Har!
The chat
Rain: The chat... "Tis a grand soft day".
As in “Nice soft day” (meaning “It’s lashing out of the heavens!”).
Makes the weather a great topic of conversation.
Irish mist
Rain: Irish mist.
That gorgeous light rain that cleanses the landscape and is fabled in song and story – they even named one of Ireland’s most famous drinks after it!
Uisce Beatha literally the “water of life” is Irish for whiskey
Rain: Irish whiskey... literally the water of life.
Irish whiskey is made from the greatest water in the world.
Thank you, rain.
* Originally published in October 2014, updated Feb 2023.
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