Ballydesmond sits near the top of Irish towns for rain, with 1,728 mm a year
High summer brings afternoon highs near 18.7°C. From frosty January to warm July, readings climb 17°C. By July afternoons alone, it runs cooler than 98% of Irish towns. Plan time outside from June to August, when highs sit at 18–19°C.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Ballydesmond at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Ballydesmond’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ in County Cork beside it.
What a year in Ballydesmond feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
About 1,728 mm of rain a year
December is the wettest month and May the driest. The wettest of 55 towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ in County Cork. The wettest month brings about 2.1 times the rain of the driest.
Rain by month
Millimetres
Living with Ballydesmond’s climate
What the averages mean for a garden, a free afternoon and a bad-weather day.
Highs of 17–27°C with lows of 8°C or more: Jun, Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Averages smooth over storms, floods and heatwaves; Ballydesmond’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Shannon Airport
Shannon Airport is 61 km north of Ballydesmond, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 15 m above sea level; Ballydesmond’s centre, 193 m.
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Air frosts | Sun (hours) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.9°C | 3.5°C | 103 mm | 4.5 | 52 |
| February | 9.5°C | 3.4°C | 87 mm | 4.2 | 69 |
| March | 11.1°C | 4.1°C | 77 mm | 2.8 | 111 |
| April | 13.6°C | 5.6°C | 62 mm | 0.8 | 162 |
| May | 16.2°C | 8.1°C | 63 mm | 0.0 | 183 |
| June | 18.5°C | 10.7°C | 69 mm | 0.0 | 165 |
| July | 19.6°C | 12.6°C | 76 mm | 0.0 | 135 |
| August | 19.4°C | 12.4°C | 88 mm | 0.0 | 143 |
| September | 17.7°C | 10.6°C | 77 mm | 0.0 | 118 |
| October | 14.4°C | 8.0°C | 95 mm | 0.4 | 93 |
| November | 11.2°C | 5.5°C | 107 mm | 1.6 | 62 |
| December | 9.2°C | 3.9°C | 115 mm | 4.0 | 46 |
| Year | 14.1°C | 7.4°C | 1,020 mm | 18 | 1,338 |
The table is Shannon Airport’s own record, averaged over 1991–2020 from its daily readings (ours, not a Met Éireann table). The rest of the page is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at Ballydesmond itself: past 40 km, the station’s frosts and sunshine don’t stand for the town.
How Ballydesmond compares
Against the 321 Irish towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, each read from Met Éireann’s grid at its own centre, and its place among towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ in County Cork.
Warmer than it used to be
Ballydesmond’s 1991–2020 average is 0.3°C warmer than 1981–2010’s. The biggest change is in April (+0.4°C).
A year’s rain is 1,728 mm, up 4% from 1,659 mm.
Change by month
The two periods share 1991–2010, so the gap is a decade’s step, not the change between two separate 30-year periods.
Ballydesmond and its neighbours
Castleisland has the warmest July afternoons (19.7°C, 1.0°C warmer). Choose a measure to recolour the map; tap a town for its climate.
The towns next door, side by side
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 19 km: a hill, a valley or the sea can make a real difference over a short distance.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballydesmond | 18.7°C | 2.2°C | 1,728 mm |
| Castleisland 16 km | 19.7°C 1.0°C warmer | 3.4°C 1.2°C milder | 1,339 mm |
| Newmarket 17 km | 19.2°C 0.5°C warmer | 2.4°C about the same | 1,324 mm |
| Millstreet 18 km | 19.4°C 0.7°C warmer | 2.7°C 0.5°C milder | 1,479 mm |
Each town’s colour is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at its own centre, so towns a few kilometres apart can differ.
Ballydesmond weather by month
Average daily high and low, mean temperature and rain, 1991–2020, for the town itself (Met Éireann’s 1 km grid).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.2°C | 2.2°C | 5.2°C | 198 mm |
| February | 8.7°C | 2.1°C | 5.4°C | 155 mm |
| March | 10.3°C | 2.8°C | 6.5°C | 132 mm |
| April | 12.7°C | 4.1°C | 8.4°C | 113 mm |
| May | 15.3°C | 6.5°C | 10.9°C | 97 mm |
| June | 17.6°C | 9.0°C | 13.3°C | 99 mm |
| July | 18.7°C | 11.0°C | 14.8°C | 110 mm |
| August | 18.6°C | 10.7°C | 14.6°C | 124 mm |
| September | 16.8°C | 9.0°C | 12.9°C | 127 mm |
| October | 13.5°C | 6.5°C | 10.0°C | 168 mm |
| November | 10.4°C | 4.1°C | 7.2°C | 198 mm |
| December | 8.6°C | 2.6°C | 5.6°C | 207 mm |
| Year | 13.3°C | 5.9°C | 9.6°C | 1,728 mm |
Where Ballydesmond’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Temperature and rain: Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid (Climatological Notes 22 and 23), read at the grid point nearest Ballydesmond’s population centre (0.5 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Shannon Airport, 61 km north, from Met Éireann’s station list.
- Frosts and degree days: Shannon Airport’s daily readings, 1991–2020, in the station table only: past 40 km they don’t stand for the town.
- Then and now: Met Éireann’s 1981–2010 averages on the same 1 km grid, at the same point.
- Altitudes: the town’s ground from the Copernicus GLO-30 surface model (a few metres high in built-up places), the station’s from Met Éireann.
- Comparisons: every Irish town and city neighbourhood of 2,500 or more, read the same way; the five city totals are left out.
- Not on this page: sunshine, frost days, warm days, snow and wind. Met Éireann publishes no 1991–2020 grid for them, only tables for its stations, so no town has a figure of its own.
Met Éireann 30-year averages · Met Éireann open data. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Questions about Ballydesmond’s climate
How warm does Ballydesmond get in summer?
The warmest month is July, when afternoons average 18.7°C.
How cold does Ballydesmond get in winter?
February nights average 2.1°C, the coldest of the year. Met Éireann counts frosts only at its weather stations, so there is no frost count for the town itself.
How much rain does Ballydesmond get?
About 1,728 mm a year, more than almost every Irish town. December is the wettest month (207 mm) and May the driest (97 mm).
How sunny is it?
Met Éireann publishes its 1991–2020 sunshine averages for its weather stations only, not on the 1 km grid this page reads, so there is no sunshine figure for Ballydesmond itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Shannon Airport.
Are these figures for Ballydesmond itself?
Yes: they are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Ballydesmond’s population centre. The nearest of its synoptic weather stations, Shannon Airport, is 61 km north.
Where do these figures come from?
Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 climate averages, published as maps of Ireland in 1 km squares (Climatological Notes 22 and 23); the page reads the square at Ballydesmond’s population centre. They are 30-year averages, not a forecast.
Copyright Met Éireann. Source: www.met.ie. This data is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Met Éireann does not accept any liability whatsoever for any error or omission in the data, their availability, or for any loss or damage arising from their use. This material has been modified from the original: TownRatings reads the 1 km grid at each town’s population centre. Today’s forecast for Ballydesmond →
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).