7 of the best gastropubs around Ireland
7 of the best gastropubs around Ireland

IMAGE

WIN a luxurious 2-night stay at Fota Island Resort
WIN a luxurious 2-night stay at Fota Island Resort

Edaein OConnell

Cocktail Club: For something out of the ordinary, try this green tea infused tipple
Cocktail Club: For something out of the ordinary, try this green tea infused tipple

Megan Burns

Real Weddings: Sarah and Karl’s festive celebrations in Co Wicklow
Real Weddings: Sarah and Karl’s festive celebrations in Co Wicklow

Edaein OConnell

Lisa O’Connor talks art, activism, and the magic that happens when the two collide
Lisa O’Connor talks art, activism, and the magic that happens when the two collide

Sarah Gill

Friends as family: How the company we keep can change our lives
Friends as family: How the company we keep can change our lives

Roe McDermott

Poppy O’Toole (aka Poppy Cooks) shares her life in food
Poppy O’Toole (aka Poppy Cooks) shares her life in food

Sarah Gill

My Life in Culture: Director Louisa Connolly-Burnham
My Life in Culture: Director Louisa Connolly-Burnham

Sarah Finnan

The IMAGE Weddings 2025 Ultimate Venue Guide is out now!
The IMAGE Weddings 2025 Ultimate Venue Guide is out now!

Ciara Elliot

How to wrap a cylindrical gift: try this step-by-step guide
How to wrap a cylindrical gift: try this step-by-step guide

Megan Burns

Image / Editorial

Irish Summer


By IMAGE
31st May 2013
Irish Summer

I love everything about summer.? The first Teddy’s ice cream, the first ice-cold dip in the sea as the sun shines, the way everyone reassures each other proudly that there’s nowhere better to be than Ireland when the sun is shining.? I love driving the Sky Road in the sunshine, the long, long Kerry evenings and heady scents of the grass being mown in gardens everywhere. And the wonder of living on an island that’s small enough to have a beach within reasonable reach of pretty much everyone.? Picnics!

Those three days (average) of sunshine are great, no doubt. But I reckon that the best part is the rest of it. Rainstorms rolling in over the Burren and spectacular rainbows to follow. Cheeky pints, because you might as well seeing as how it’s going to stay moody-looking all day.? Finding a shelter in the dunes and making a wind-proof camp to eat your sandy sandwiches.

We think we’d love a non-stop ?proper? summer, but in truth we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves. 1976 is still spoken of in awestruck terms, equal parts horror (oh, the heat!) and misty-eyed fondness (oh the heat!).? We haven’t the complexion for it, unless you’ve the fortune to have missed out on the freckle-freckle-burn gene most of us have.? We droop in the noonday sun and need our dinner at 6 sharp, not after the sun has gone down like the sun-savvy Mediterraneans.?? Plus, there’s the guilt of feeling sorry for the poor farmers, cap-wringing on the news and predicting that every crop and head of cattle will be lost if the heavens don’t open daily from June to September.

Long before anyone ever conceived of the Red Room, we Irish were fully conversant with Fifty Shades of Grey.? Grey skies, that is.? We can tell a ‘sun shower? from ?light to moderate rain? and we like to spend a good part of the day in conversation about the prospect of it brightening up.? Clear skies make us feel a little uncomfortable, just like American-style even white teeth do.

This year will be no different.? It will blaze with sunshine for the period of the Junior and Leaving Cert.? We’ll go mad in Woodies for the gas-powered barbeque and have 50 people over for a big ?cook out?. From European beaches, we’ll check the temperature at home and comment approvingly on the level of precipitation (great altogether for farmers).? And when we get home, we’ll get the winter clothes out in August, keep the central heating on and enjoy our 99s in between the sun showers.? Glorious.

Jenny Coyle finds tropical climes unnerving @missmitford