Looking for colloquial Irish sayings describing the weather

jimmymal

Hey everybody,

I'm looking for colloquial Irish sayings describing the weather (all types) for a project in college, however they must be specific to a region or city.

Any help at all here would be appreciated.

Cheers in advance.

martic

Christ but thats a horrible hure of a day

mathepac

Cavan / Monaghan - "If the weather stays like this it'll not change"

Not

Donegal - "Jaysus the frog won't budge, it's going to be a bad one*"

* edit : as in 'winter'

marketty

It's horrid 'close'. (humid I think)
The wind'd hould ya. (a cold strong wind)
These are from Meath, haven't heard them elsewhere.

1966

Soft day.

Not

marketty wrote: »

It's horrid 'close'. (humid I think)
The wind'd hould ya. (a cold strong wind)
These are from Meath, haven't heard them elsewhere.

Have heard in Dublin "The wind would skin you alive". I've no idea if that's excusive to Dublin, I suspect not.

looksee

That's a lazy wind, goes straight through you. - don't know if it is specific to an area.

JustAddWater

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuUqrJZ6S2Y

kwik

Its baltic out there isnt it. Im in dublin but dont know if its said everywere..... or if its said at all but i say it myself so it has to count.

mp22

Hardy

Ellian

it's a soft day.

Foundered as in cold.

hop2it

old enniscorthy saying for high wind's ( the wind would cut the horns off a snail )

amacachi

looksee wrote: »

That's a lazy wind, goes straight through you. - don't know if it is specific to an area.

It's here in Louth anyway.

fr wishy washy

Brass Monkeys (Dont Ask)

Not

Howlin' like a banshee

Deep Easterly

"A ****ing rotton c**t of a day" - Tuam

Drakmord

The wind'd skin a brass monkey.

-North East Cork

byhookorbycrook

West Limerick-when frost and ice are expected "A snipe won't stand in the morning"
North Cork:
Dew on the grass, rain won't come to pass.
Mare's tails and mackerel sky, not long wet and not long dry.

SAINTRON

''its pissin' it down''

Everywhere, all the time.

errisshooter

It would freeze the balls off a brass monkey (Cold)
A Fox of a day (Very changable)
Only a day for the fire (Cold & Wet)
Its a Mucky One (Damp)
Its a Skelper (Cold & Windy)

Su Campu

There's snow on them thar hills.....

(Coleraine)

lord lucan

It's Baltic out!

IE: It's very cold.:)

TheMilkyPirate

Su Campu wrote: »

There's snow on them thar hills.....

(Coleraine)

There's snow on them thar hills, A tornado in my back garden, Hailstones the size of cats and a supercell hovering over the town hall.

(Owen c, Coleraine)

Faing

Rain like stair rods

colincork

It's a day for the ducks!(wet day)

mountainy man

It's boiling rain, humid/thundery

Villain

"It'll be cold when the North wind does blow"

Dotsie~tmp

It's fúckin' lashin'..

Dublin: Heavy rain.

bionic.laura

You wouldn't put a gate out in it - Cold, wet and windy. From south kilkenny.

mathepac

fr wishy washy wrote: »

Brass Monkeys (Dont Ask)

Drakmord wrote: »

The wind'd skin a brass monkey...

errisshooter wrote: »

It would freeze the balls off a brass monkey (Cold) ...

AFAIK I think that all the "Brass Monkey" references for cold weather are British Army / British Navy in origin, not Irish.

A brass monkey is a pyramid-like brass frame for holding cannon-balls or round shot.

The cannon-balls were made of lead (usually) and in cold weather the brass frame shrank significantly, dislodging the cannon-balls which maintained their size, hence the expression.

If anyone has another origin for "Brass Monkey" then I'd be interested to hear it.

pauldry

powerful day (sunny)
soft day (wet)
lively day (windy)
heavy day (humid)
messy day (wintry showers)
dead day (hot)
lovely day (cold)

Sponge Bob

Drawky day - From Irish Droch Chaoi = in a bad way means a wet grey to constantly drizzly day in some parts.

loopyloulilly

That a serious wine - strong wind

Garzorico

its colder than a witches t*t = its cold

John mac

That's a day for the high stool.

alfalad

There are more snotty noses than standing pr*cks this morning. - Said on a cold frosty morning. Although I only know of one person who used to say it and he was from south east Meath

premiercad

'"Tis brightening around the butt"
Rain or shower shows signs of clearing

"the sun is splitting the stones" or "Tis a day for tramore"
Very warm

"Tis a day for the bog"
Good dry breezy weather

"you wouldn't see your hand"
Very foggy

I've heard them all in Tipp but I'm sure some are more widespread

Wild Bill

West Wicklow:

*A thin wind (cold breeze from the east)
*A cutting wind/The wind would cut you in two
*It's raining cats and dogs
*(If the snow persists in patches, ditches etc) "it's waiting for more"
*That's a day for the fire/That's a day for the high stool
*It's too cold to snow
*Heavy day (warm and humid)
*Soft day (misty, drizzly, mild)
*Cat day (unpleasant, usually heavy rain)
*It's down for the day (the rain will continue all day)
*There's a break in the weather (it has stopped raining)

Dublin

*It's pissin' (rain) [probably the most common expression of all]
Also all the "brass monkey" variants are widely used.

floutingmaxims

"Tis a grand day for it." (What 'it' is has yet to be discovered) Can be used in all types of weather, it's just such a versatile phrase!

"There's great dryin' in it" - A windy day with no rain with the odd spell of sunshine.

mathepac

Galway, Salthill - "If you can't see the Cliffs of Moher, it's raining; if you can see them it's about to start"

inabina

It's raining cats and dogs

irishgrover

if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes....

holla!

'Tis a day for the washin', not the dryin' (as in it's raining)

Timmyboy

There was one from the Duhallow region but I've got it all mixed up in my mind. It was in the Irish language.

Went like this:

Ceo ar Mhushera agus Claragh go brach, beidh an la go deas
Achm, Ceo are Claragh agus Mhushera go brach, beidh an la go harabh(?)

Essentially the translation was that if there was high fog cloud on Mushera mountain while Clara mountain remained clear this was a sign of good weather, however if Mushera (i.e. Musheramore) was clear and Clara had fog on top then that would be a sign of bad weather.

I've never found this forecast to fail for the general areas (to the north of) those mountains.

eskimocat

"Oh Aran looks very near.... RUN!"

Local Donegal saying when Aran Mor Island looks closer than usual, you have to run to get in the washing cause there is rain coming.... never failed... generally managed to save the washing

jimmymal

Hey guys, cheers for all the answers, you've all been great.

Even those who've not put a county or region in there Ah no, i know a lot of these are impossible to trace and thanks for all your efforts!

YESROH

Its a day for the stones in your pockets. ( Windy ) Kerry

Wet rain ie its lashing and not weather to be going out in as oppose to soft rain that you could do some farming in. My Grandfathers used to say it and they where from the West.

Benny Cake

Day for ducks
Teeming rain
Pure heavy weather

All limerick...:cool:

cherryghost

It's not snowing here.

- Cork

él statutorio

mathepac wrote: »

AFAIK I think that all the "Brass Monkey" references for cold weather are British Army / British Navy in origin, not Irish.

A brass monkey is a pyramid-like brass frame for holding cannon-balls or round shot.

The cannon-balls were made of lead (usually) and in cold weather the brass frame shrank significantly, dislodging the cannon-balls which maintained their size, hence the expression.

If anyone has another origin for "Brass Monkey" then I'd be interested to hear it.

That theory has been disproved, apparently the temperature would have to be more then -40C for the brass to contract enough. Also cannon balls weren't stored in a pyramid. I think BBC news had an article on this phrase recently. Their take was that it was to do with the 3 brass monkeys, 'See no Evil', 'Hear no Evil' and 'Speak no Evil'.