Light spells of rain and a cool breeze throughout the day were the weather conditions I encountered on my visit to Newport, Co Mayo. The town of approximately 800 in population, situated on the west coast, is the wettest place in Ireland, according to recent statistics from Met Éireann. The national meteorological service’s figures indicate that Newport had the State’s highest annual total of rainfall recorded in 2020 and 2021.
The manual weather station, where recordings take place, is at the Marine Institute in Furnace. Station 833 is situated 5.7km from Newport town on a popular walking route on the coast of Clew Bay. It has been checked every morning since December 1959, says Dr Elvira de Eyto from the Marine Institute.
“Annual average rainfall was 1,592mm between 1960 and 2020, making Newport one of the wettest areas of the country. Rainfall is increasing with each passing decade, particularly in the winter,” de Eyto says.
“Having long-term weather data available at this location complements the work of the Marine Institute, and is a valuable national asset.”
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Schoolteacher Liz McMcManamon moved to Newport from Dublin in 2002. Her husband, Harry McManamon, took over his family pub Grainne Uaile. She is adamant that the summers have also been getting wetter in the west, as well as the winters.
She says the weather has a “direct relationship” with how hectic or otherwise the pub is: “If the sun is shining and it’s warm we’ll be packed outside and inside. We’d all be scrambling. If it’s raining you don’t get the cyclists, so it has an immediate effect on everything.”
Naturally, the Covid-19 pandemic had an impact on the hospitality business as well, with al fresco dining suddenly enforced in areas that do not benefit from Mediterranean temperatures.
“When we opened up after lockdown and it was only outside dining. Some days we’d have to close because you just couldn’t stay open,” she says.
“The summers are definitely wetter than they have been. But I think people have also realised too, to a certain extent, that if you’re going to come to the west of Ireland on your holidays, you can’t cancel everything because it’s raining.”
McManamon says there is good co-operation between businesses in the town, whatever the weather. The small-town atmosphere, as well as the damper climate, was something of a culture shock to the Dubliner at first, but she quickly saw the positives. “You can walk anywhere. It’s safe and it’s lovely. We live just a mile out of town so you would walk in, go to the supermarket, get your paper, come home.” she says.
“I’d find it very hard to move back to Dublin now.”
Cormac Kelly works in his family butchers, Kelly’s, on Main Street, known for their traditional black pudding, putóg, and other specialty products – all made in Newport and now stocked in large supermarket chains across the country. Kelly too notes that the weather affects his trade, and the meteorological forecast influences how he stocks his shop.
“If you have a good summer’s day the barbecues come out, but on wet cold days you have more stews. You have to be ready and know what weather is coming,” he says.
Meanwhile, Michael Chambers founded Chamber’s Garden Centre in the town about 27 years ago. Born and raised in Newport, he grew up seeing his father take advantage of the damp climate to grow vegetables, which influenced his own future business venture.
In terms of business, the weather does not affect Chambers drastically, but, in common with others, he does note that it “slows down when it’s raining”.
The rain does not seem to trouble the water sports enthusiasts having fun on the river in the summer months, and the seasonal fishermen always come dressed for the weather.