January 1982

just noticed on the footage that east facing rooftops have little or wind swept snow, where as the west facing roofs have thick layers. Was it an easterly wind?

I remember the 82 snow well, the first night it hit we were trying to get from Dublin to Drogheda! :eek:

Of course we didn't make it, and ended up spending the night staying with some people I didn't know in Bayside. Thank God, I remember stories of some having to stay in Garda cells as they couldn't get home!

Older people were saying that it was as bad as 1947 or 48.

Good film dathi

Your link is not working

I wasn't alive for this, but my Dad lived near Tara and he said the snow was 6 feet high in parts. He got buried once and had to be pulled out with a rope.

it snowed last 2009 in april/march and it was heavy

I remember '82 well - was about 14 at the time, and we lived in Harolds Cross. There was overnight heavy snow falls, followed by a week or 10 days of subzero temperatures. The snow compacted on the roads and formed a solid ice layer about 18 inches thick. We had some friends of my parents staying with us, they lived in Tallaght and worked in the city centre and were unable to get home for about a week due to the condition of the roads. Cars were abandoned all over the place.

I remember going shopping with the folks, the local supermarket opened but the shelves were almost bare - was quite eerie actually. Very few trucks could get around to make deliveries. Milk, bread, eggs etc were rationed and when any came in it was sold out in hours.

A lot of folks went home after the thaw not having been in their houses for over a week, unfortunately many went home to burst pipes and water damage. I remember when the thaw came there was an almighty crash in the front garden one afternoon, it was a mini avalanche of snow sliding off the roof. It tore all the gutters off the front of the house. They were heavy cast iron gutters too, if anyone had been standing underneath they could have been killed! It was an interesting few days!

It all started exactly 30 years ago tonight. It started to snow around 11pm on the 7th and it was still snowing the next morning which was a Friday. It wasn't anything special, just a moderate snowfall - a few cms. Then around 3 or 4 o clock in the afternoon the snow became very heavy and with easterly gales there was considerable drifting
nuff said - happy days.

I was around in 1982 (albeit not yet a teenager) and living in Ballina and you know for the life of me I can't remember a big snow.

Did the west coast miss the snow or I am losing my mind!?:D

Pics in this thread are great as is the fact that the thread itself is over 5 years old!

I remember the snow of 82... it was absolutely gorgeous. I wasn't very old but old enough to remember.... we went sledging on the main road, the speed was savage My hands nearly fell off with the cold but one pair of marigolds over a dry pair of gloves later, I had floppy hands that were capable of holding snowballs, now throwing them was a bit of an issue, no actual fingers cause gloves too big... LOL Ah good times.

Interesting article from the Limerick Leader below about the snow of 1982. For some reason I always thought this was predominantly an Eastern half of Ireland event but obviously counties further west got it severe also! I was only 6 and living in Kerry so can't remember anything specific about that winter (apart from a general memory of having more snow at winter when I was a child)



COUNTY Limerick was thawing out this Thursday after the coldest weather hit the region in more than 25 years.

And county secretary, Mr Pat O’Connor, called on householders to report any instances of flooding to the council without delay.
Two East Limerickmen lost their lives in the Arctic conditions when their car plunged into a dyke near Kilteely.
Mr Frank Berkery, 45, and Mr Thomas Deere, 53, both natives of Doon, were found in the six-foot deep ditch off the road at Coologue last Friday morning, 15 hours after they had last been seen alive.
It is understood that Mr Berkery, a garage proprietor, and Mr Deere, a CIE school bus driver, left Doon at 7pm on Thursday on their way to Kanturk to collect spare parts for a car.

A garda spokesman at Doon told the Limerick Leader that it was quite possible that the car, which was covered in snow when discovered the following morning, was in the dyke for anything up to 12 hours. Asked why the car not not been spotted earlier, he replied: “Because of the bad weather conditions which prevailed at the time, there were very few using the roads.”
Both men were highly popular in East Limerick, as reflected in the huge attendance at their funerals on Monday.
One of the areas worst hit by the weather was the village of Anglesboro, which was snowed in for two days by extensive drifts, reportedly as high as six feet in places.
A garda spokesman at Galbally said that the Anglesboro/Galbally road was completely blocked for two days and the village was marooned by snow drifts.
Gardai at Ballyneety reported one instance of a person being snowed in at Boherlode, but added that the problem had not been “too severe”.
Gardai at Cappamore and Bruff said that motorists had responded well to the warnings about the icy roads, although there had been a number of reports of minor skidding.
Road conditions in outlying parts of West Limerick were treacherous, with snow drifts of up to six feet around Knocknaboula, Foynes. Gardai at Foynes reported cases of farmers being isolated in holdings at Mount David, Knocknaboula and Shanagolden.
The worst evidence of snow drifts was at Shanagolden, where, although the village itself could be passed, motorists found it almost impossible to proceed to Knocknaboula.
“It’s pretty rough for the cattle with the snow so deep on the ground,” said Mr Tony O’Connor, a livestock farmer at Knockpatrick, Shanagolden. “This is the worst I can remember since 1947, when we were stranded up here for five weeks.”
Mr Maurice Danaher, 82, from Shanagolden, was busy clearing the ice from his doorstep. “The last time I saw this drinking pond frozen over was in 1963 – and it was fearful cold then,” he said. “I remember the big freeze-up of 1917 when it was so cold the poor birds were frozen – you could pick them up, they were so cold.”
The villagers of Askeaton had a startling surprise when they awoke to find the River Deel frozen solid for a mile below the town. Butcher Mr Tony Sheehan said: “I’ve never seen anything like it and I’m living here for 40 years.”