A total of 75 inches of rain was recorded in Muckross, Killarney in 2023 with a whopping 10 inches in December alone.
Killarney National Park has been measuring rainfall for 80 years with records available since in 1943.
Pictures: Valerie O’Sullivan
That year it recorded 63 and a half inches of rain and handwritten results were sent to the meteorological station in Dublin.
Before automation began in 2019, every morning of the year at 9.00am dedicated staff measure rainfall at the station in Muckross where Gerry Murphy is the horticultural supervisor having taken over following the retirement of the late Bill Carson in 2000. Since automation, data is transmitted directly to Met Éireann.
Using the old method of gathering water from the funnel together with the automated system, Gerry has been keeping records both manually and by computer.
The wettest year in Muckross was recorded in 2015 with a total of 87 and three quarter inches of rainfall.
The driest year recorded there was in 1971, with a total of 48 and a quarter inches,
The total result for Muckross ending 31st December 2023 records a total of 75 Inches of rainfall.
Over the years there were substations at St Finan’s Hospital, Mangerton mountain and Muckross Peninsula, which has its own microclimate with the proximity of the mountains and lakes, making it much wetter.
Gerry is still waiting for a new record for the driest year since 1943.
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