Umbrellas were selling well, traffic ground to a halt and traffic lights were out across the city, but the farmers were laughing and environmentalists were delighted. What a difference the rain makes.
Though the rest of the country is unlikely to see the kind of torrential rain that affected Dublin on Wednesday night, the wet weather is set to continue into the weekend.
It will be brighter and breezier than the last few days, but, said Met Eireann, we can expect "an unsettled mix of bright or sunny spells and showers, or longer spells of rain, heavy at times". The sun barely managed to raise a smile on Wednesday. And though it seemed in better form yesterday, making intermittent appearances, showers continued across the country.
Many routes were impassable yesterday morning after a night in which 45 mm of rain fell in the capital.
"It was not exactly a record-breaking rainfall", said Mr Hugh Daly of Met Eireann, "but it was certainly heavy rain". The heaviest rainfall in living memory, he added, was in June 1994 when 100 mm fell in 24 hours.
The worst affected roads were the old Dun Laoghaire Road, as well as those between Dundalk and Carrickmacross, Kilkenny and Carlow and Drogheda and Navan. Floods were also reported near the RDS, where the Horse Show was on for the second day, the Howth Road and the area at the airport roundabout.
To make matters worse traffic lights across the city were not signalling because of the rain. A spokesman for Dublin Corporation's traffic office said lights in Irishtown, the south quays, Dorset Street and Ranelagh were affected.
"When a bit of water gets into the signal head, it causes a short circuit which trips a safety device," he explained. "When there's torrential rain, we expect to have to repair lights."
AA Roadwatch is urging motorists to continue driving with extra vigilance as the high levels of rain after the long dry spell will make road surfaces greasy.
While the State's 1,263 potato farmers were being warned to spray fungicide to counter blight, which is encouraged by warm, muggy weather, Mr Paddy Browne, the chief tillage adviser with Teagasc, was welcoming the rain.
He said the long dry period had brought drought conditions.
"It has been the driest July in 10 years and we have had one of the earliest harvests on record."
The spring barley harvest, he said, had been brought in over a week ahead of schedule.
Though there were some reports of "lodging", or the flattening of crops, it was "not a serious problem" he said. The tillage crop is worth an estimated £1.9 million a year.
"The rain at this stage would be welcome for most tillage farmers, especially those who'd be growing sugar beet or were worried about grass," he said.
Others welcoming the rain were the algae experts at the Department of the Environment and Local Government.
"The rain is a positive thing in terms of water pollution," said one. "Algae blooms thrive in high sunshine and dislike the rain."
