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First Day of Spring

Costosa

Today is finally the first day of spring, also St Brigid's Day. It's been a long cold and dark winter, thankfully the days are getting longer and not so cold.

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Mal-Adjusted

I'm always amazed how people get so bent out of shape over this. It's not as if you flick a switch and the weather gets better.

pickarooney

murpho999 wrote: »

I don't see the relevance, at the time those terms were coined, people beleived that the earth was flat.

Things move on , the calendar that was used was wrong, and just because it's some saint's day does not mean it's correct.

The rest of the northern hemisphere has March (Around the solstice) as the start of Spring, our own Meteorological service agrees, how can they all be wrong.

Also, I will never accept August as Autumn, as it's the warmest time of year.

The people who built newgrange thought the earth was flat? FFS.

pickarooney

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

I'm always amazed how people get so bent out of shape over this. It's not as if you flock a switch and the weather gets better.

Exactly. But you can track the movement of the celestial bodies and the increase in daylight very accurately.

murpho999

pickarooney wrote: »

The people who built newgrange thought the earth was flat? FFS.

Yes, they did, why wouldn't they?

Just because they could align a chamber ithe sun's path on a certain day did not mean they had a full understanding of everything.

murpho999

pickarooney wrote: »

Arbitrary indeed... No need for sense when you have arbitrary. Which is somehow better than 'based on actual science'.

Do you really think then that August is not summer?

The Backwards Man

meeeeh wrote: »

They are arbitrary set dates for northern hemisphere. There has to be some sort of universality to enable comparison. That's probably why meteorological seasons are better because the astronomical ones are old georgian calendar division that varies a bit. If you think that is idiotic because they don't correspond to dates your toes feel cold than so be it.

Btw all this is primariy school geography.

Primary school geographers and arbitrary date setters don't plant spuds, sow corn or cut turf. If they did they'd know they're talking bollocks

pickarooney

murpho999 wrote: »

Do you really think then that August is not summer?

In the absence of any compelling evidence to the contrary, August is Autumn.

You reckon they just fluked newgrange with no understanding of astronomy... fair enough.

murpho999

pickarooney wrote: »

In the absence of any compelling evidence to the contrary, August is Autumn.

You reckon they just fluked newgrange with no understanding of astronomy... fair enough.

Just judging by the climate being at it's warmest in August does not mean it's summer.

As for Newgrange, they noticed patterns and built a chamber that captured light around the same time each year.
It was done for religious reasons, not science.

ninebeanrows

The biggest lie we were taught!

I always remember getting really angry over it and writing down the correct season months in tests in primary school.

meeeeh

pickarooney wrote: »

In the absence of any compelling evidence to the contrary, August is Autumn.

You reckon they just fluked newgrange with no understanding of astronomy... fair enough.

Ok. Then we Will do international temperature comparisons everywhere else for meteorological seasons and in Ireland do it for whatever they decided in Newgrange or when spuds are growing. Makes perfect sense.

Shrap

Lads, the level of disagreement on here just goes to show that we might as well pick today for 1st day of Spring, and every country can call it as they see it. It's clearly only a symbol for the season of new beginnings anyway. After all, if it wasn't for the "tradition" of having a calendar, we might as well just number the days up to 365 and abandon the months altogether

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

murpho999 wrote: »

Just judging by the climate being at it's warmest in August does not mean it's summer.

As for Newgrange, they noticed patterns and built a chamber that captured light around the same time each year.
It was done for religious reasons, not science.

It may have been for religious purposes but the science proved correct.

Spring in the Northern Hemisphere begins at the equinox.

murpho999

Connor Odd Sepia wrote: »

It may have been for religious purposes but the science proved correct.

Spring in the Northern Hemisphere begins at the equinox.

Correct, so March 21st not February 1st.

CrabRevolution

murpho999 wrote: »

I don't see the relevance, at the time those terms were coined, people beleived that the earth was flat.

Things move on , the calendar that was used was wrong, and just because it's some saint's day does not mean it's correct.

The rest of the northern hemisphere has March (Around the solstice) as the start of Spring, our own Meteorological service agrees, how can they all be wrong.

Also, I will never accept August as Autumn, as it's the warmest time of year.

5000 years after it was built, Newgrange is still in line with the rising sun at the winter solstice. I think our ancestors knew a thing or two about calendars and what time of year it was.

murpho999

CrabRevolution wrote: »

5000 years after it was built, Newgrange is still in line with the rising sun at the winter solstice. I think our ancestors knew a thing or two about calendars and what time of year it was.

They did but that doesn't mean that Spring starts on February 1st does it?

They knew that the sun was in a certain position every year, it does not make them planetery & meteorological experts.

pickarooney

murpho999 wrote: »

They did but that doesn't mean that Spring starts on February 1st does it?

They knew that the sun was in a certain position every year, it does not make them planetery & meteorological experts.

Just try and imagine for a minute the calculations that go into something so precise and fleeting. You can't just do that on a hunch.

The equinox is actually on March 20th now anyway.

murpho999

pickarooney wrote: »

Just try and imagine for a minute the calculations that go into something so precise and fleeting. You can't just do that on a hunch.

The equinox is actually on March 20th now anyway.

It would be done on noticing a pattern of the sun shining on the same place every year, who said it was a hunch?

Still doesn't mean that February 1st is the first day of Spring though.

pickarooney

Are we still on March 1st then? Cause the equinox is at least a bit logical even if as a result the summer months have less light than the spring ones but march 1st seems to be grounded in nothing at all.
Midsummer is an actual thing, the Nordics are all into it. Having the middle at the start is a bit bonkers.

eisenberg1

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Spring starts with the always glorious weather for St Pattys day *cough*

Who is she? St Patty?

Fat Christy

Doesn't feel much like Spring out there at the moment. Tis fierce blustery out.

Geuze

jamesbere wrote: »

Always felt 1st of March was more the first day of spring in this country, still get wintry weather in February

Yes, correct.

Met Eireann use March as the start of spring.

http://www.met.ie/education/pdfs_eng/YP%20Fun%20Facts%20Seasons.pdf

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/think-spring-has-finally-sprung-not-until-march-says-met-eireann-30976244.html

Geuze

murpho999 wrote: »

Do you really think then that August is not summer?

Summer = June, July and August, according to Met Eireann.

murpho999

Geuze wrote: »

Summer = June, July and August, according to Met Eireann.

Yes but they modern day science is wrong and but the ancient wise who built shallow passages in Newgrange are correct!

donegaLroad

it is very messed up here at the minute... some of our trees haven't lost any leaves this winter, the whin bushes are in blossom this last month, and there is a near hurricane blowing at the minute.

CrabRevolution

I don't think anyone is saying that the meteorological definition is wrong. We're just saying that there are several definitions for when spring begins, depending on location, culture,traditions etc. In our case here in Ireland, spring has traditionally been regarded as February, March and April. It's not like they 2 are in conflict, let meteorologists use theirs for their work and let most other people use ours.

In Ireland the 1st of february (or around then, before calendars) has been celebrated in one form or another as the start of spring for hundreds, possibly thousands of years. Meteorology as a science probably only started seriously getting going in the 18th or 19th centuries. Do you think people are just going to go "well, if these meteorologist say so, we'll have to stop"?

fleet_admiral

Summer begins in Ireland on the 31st of February each year

[Deleted User]

Fat Christy wrote: »

Doesn't feel much like Spring out there at the moment. Tis fierce blustery out.

If you think this is bad wait until the Laethanta na Bó Riabhaí (English version anseo) come upon us at the end of March/start of April.

Ah, most people today don't seem to be told about any of these once famous Irish traditions.

pickarooney

Obviously Met Eireann have a meteorologically biased agenda and are not a reliable authority on the matter.

mickstupp

Met Eireann. Reliable bunch.

ShamoBuc

Children in school are taught that Spring begins today and that August is the first month of Autumn. Until the dept of ed says something different , I don't care what Met Éireann say.