Few Irish towns get more rain than Kenmare: 1,856 mm a year
Sunny July days climb to about 19.6°C. By January nights alone, it runs milder than 97% of Irish towns. April has warmed most since 1981–2010, part of a 0.2°C rise. The heating season runs November to April: each of those months averages under 10°C.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Kenmare at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Kenmare’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in County Kerry beside it.
What a year in Kenmare feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
About 1,856 mm of rain a year
December is the wettest month and June the driest. The wettest of 5 towns of 2,500+ in County Kerry. The wettest month brings about 2.1 times the rain of the driest.
Rain by month
Millimetres
Living with Kenmare’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, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Averages smooth over storms, floods and heatwaves; Kenmare’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Valentia
Valentia is 46 km west of Kenmare, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 24 m above sea level; Kenmare’s centre, 12 m.
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Air frosts | Sun (hours) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9.9°C | 5.0°C | 184 mm | 2.0 | 52 |
| February | 10.0°C | 4.9°C | 137 mm | 1.9 | 70 |
| March | 11.0°C | 5.3°C | 114 mm | 1.4 | 118 |
| April | 12.6°C | 6.4°C | 104 mm | 0.2 | 165 |
| May | 14.8°C | 8.6°C | 92 mm | 0.0 | 179 |
| June | 16.7°C | 10.8°C | 100 mm | 0.0 | 168 |
| July | 17.9°C | 12.7°C | 113 mm | 0.0 | 137 |
| August | 18.0°C | 12.5°C | 114 mm | 0.0 | 134 |
| September | 17.0°C | 11.2°C | 126 mm | 0.0 | 117 |
| October | 14.5°C | 9.1°C | 171 mm | 0.0 | 91 |
| November | 11.9°C | 6.9°C | 187 mm | 0.5 | 56 |
| December | 10.5°C | 5.7°C | 176 mm | 1.8 | 40 |
| Year | 13.7°C | 8.3°C | 1,617 mm | 8 | 1,327 |
The table is Valentia’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 Kenmare itself: past 40 km, the station’s frosts and sunshine don’t stand for the town.
How Kenmare 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 of 2,500+ in County Kerry.
Warmer than it used to be
Kenmare’s 1991–2020 average is 0.2°C warmer than 1981–2010’s. The biggest change is in April (+0.4°C).
A year’s rain is 1,856 mm, up 3% from 1,808 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.
Kenmare 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 | 9.7°C | 3.8°C | 6.7°C | 220 mm |
| February | 10.0°C | 3.7°C | 6.9°C | 166 mm |
| March | 11.4°C | 4.4°C | 7.9°C | 137 mm |
| April | 13.6°C | 5.5°C | 9.6°C | 120 mm |
| May | 16.2°C | 8.0°C | 12.1°C | 105 mm |
| June | 18.3°C | 10.4°C | 14.3°C | 103 mm |
| July | 19.6°C | 12.2°C | 15.9°C | 118 mm |
| August | 19.5°C | 12.0°C | 15.8°C | 122 mm |
| September | 17.9°C | 10.4°C | 14.2°C | 141 mm |
| October | 14.7°C | 8.1°C | 11.4°C | 191 mm |
| November | 11.8°C | 5.8°C | 8.8°C | 214 mm |
| December | 10.1°C | 4.3°C | 7.2°C | 221 mm |
| Year | 14.4°C | 7.4°C | 10.9°C | 1,856 mm |
Where Kenmare’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 Kenmare’s population centre (0.5 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Valentia, 46 km west, from Met Éireann’s station list.
- Frosts and degree days: Valentia’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 Kenmare’s climate
How warm does Kenmare get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 19.6°C.
How cold does Kenmare get in winter?
The coldest nights come in February, averaging 3.7°C. Met Éireann counts frosts only at its weather stations, so there is no frost count for the town itself.
How much rain does Kenmare get?
About 1,856 mm a year, more than almost every Irish town. December is the wettest month (221 mm) and June the driest (103 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 Kenmare itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Valentia.
Are these figures for Kenmare itself?
Yes: they are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Kenmare’s population centre. The nearest of its synoptic weather stations, Valentia, is 46 km west.
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 Kenmare’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 Kenmare →
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).