Saint Swithin's Day, 2023

 Today is Saint Swithin's Day, and this morning in Glasnevin, Dublin, the rain is pouring down.

Tradition has it that, if it rains on Saint Swithin's Day, it will rain for 40 days. This is not unusual. Typical Summer weather in Ireland gives us windy and wet May, followed by dry, and sometimes warm, June, showery first half of July and either a wet, wet, wet August, or occasional heat wave during these next forty days.

When, back in the 1980s,  Dublin Corporation brought representatives of the various community Art Groups together to consider a "Peoples Art Society," professional artist Robert Ballagh told us of his visit to a  Peoples Art Exhibition in New York, which was held in the open air. We thought this would be a good idea for Dublin, but the nay-sayers pointed out that Dublin weather could not be relied on. I then proposed the first week-end of July for the exhibition, to be held, if permission could be got, on the railings of Saint Stephen's Green, (which continues to be held every year since then, but now on several additional week-ends). I confidently predicted that the weather, if rainy, would be showery, not continuous, at that time of year. In all the years since then, this prediction has proved to be substantially correct.

"Bring your raincoats, and plastic sheets to  cover the pictures during the showers," I advised.

Now, Saint Swithin is a saint of the south of England. You might say that his prediction is true only to the extent that our weather pattern is similar to England's. However, legend is based on observation, and the observation underlying the legend is certainly that the weather pattern for the rest of Summer, here as well as in England, is set in the middle of this month of July - not yet scuttled by Global Warming!

Saint Swithin is also the patron saint of Summer Apples (i.e., Apples that ripen in July). At this time of year, a small, red-flecked, delicious (and always fresh) apple comes into the shops:

"Always Fresh?" Yes: you must seize the opportunity of buying these as soon as they appear, because they do not store well, and are not found "out of season." Don't try storing them: pick and eat.