IN A pop hit of the 1960s, Nat King Cole sang of “those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer”, ending with the line: “You’ll wish that summer could always be here”. It’s an apt message for the holiday weekend: in a few weeks summer will be gone, so get out and make the most of it.
Although public holidays are a relatively recent invention, the roots of this weekend’s wealth of sporting, festive and cultural events stretch back to prehistoric times. The month that opens tomorrow takes its name in English from Augustus, ruler of the Roman Empire at the peak of its power, but the character of August is captured better in its Irish name, Lúnasa. Called after Lugh, Celtic god of light and genius, it was a time for celebrating the coming harvest with festivals, markets, horse races, revelry and matchmaking.
That ancient tradition finds an unlikely echo today in such attractions as the “Howya” Festival in Durrow, Co Laois or the Wellie-throwing Championship at Ballinlough, Co Westmeath, as well as countless other events including Mary from Dungloe, Eileen Aroon in Bunclody, the Ballydehob Wine and Food Fair, the Spraoi street party in Waterford, the Stradbally National Steam Rally, the Castle Palooza Music and Arts Festival in Tullamore and, of course, the big football matches in Croke Park and the Irish Open golf tournament at Killarney. Outdoor gatherings are always at the mercy of the weather, but Met Éireann’s forecasts for the coming days are promising enough to encourage big crowds.
For the ancient Irish, Lúnasa also marked the beginning of the sun’s descent towards winter. As the evenings gradually darken in the weeks ahead, Leaving Cert results and “Back to School” notices in clothing or stationery shops will serve as modern heralds of a season’s passing. When we pause to look back on summer 2010, we may not give top marks to its weather: a sunny June was followed, in most parts, by a rainy July, and the prospects for August are, needless to say, uncertain. Met Éireann is cagey about long-term forecasts, though the British website Positive Weather Solutions says that “across Northern and Southern Ireland generally, a good dry run is expected for a good deal of the month”.
But whatever August may bring, there have already been enough fine days to justify Henry James’s remark that the words “summer afternoon” are the two most beautiful in the English language. After three washouts in a row, and the coldest winter in almost half a century, this year’s summer at least has been worthy of the name.