Looks Like Rain: 9000 Years of Irish Weather

by Damian Corless

The name the Romans used for Ireland was Hibernia, meaning `Land Of Winter' and cold feet may have influenced their leaving the Irish to their own devices. This lively overview picks out incidents when the weather - generally bad - changed the course of Ireland's history. We learn how the Irish weather probably saw off the dictator Oliver Cromwell, how the Irish climate created the heavy soil that made the potato flourish, how the Irish legend of the crock of gold at the rainbow's end came about, and how David Lean used the County Kerry weather as a starring character in his movie, Ryan's Daughter. Remarkably, Ireland's weather has remained the same moderate mixed blessing since the Romans left.

Genres: History

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 9, 2013

Reviews

[Gillian Hennessy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have to be honest here and say that I work for The Collins Press and we published this book so of course I'm going to love it! But seriously, this is a really enjoyable look at what the Irish spend the vast majority of their time wondering about - the weather. There are some great stories in there about how the weather changed the course of history (a weather report from Mayo delayed the D-Day landings by a day, thereby ensuring success and Oliver Cromwell was laid low after contracting malaria from a mosquito bit in Cork!). Worth dipping into on a rainy day :)

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Well worth a read if you like bite sized facts and figures about your national science and history.

I intended to keep it as a "dip in" book I could have while reading a novel, but it was so interesting and the chapters were so compact I couldn't stop myself reading it any chance I got. Great fun!