Kilgarvan sits near the top of Irish towns for rain, with 1,993 mm a year
On a normal January night the air cools to about 3.7°C. The gap between a January night and a July afternoon is 16°C. In January, nights here are milder than in 96% of Irish towns. Picnics, hikes and garden evenings come into their own from June to September, with highs of 18–20°C.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Kilgarvan at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Kilgarvan’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in County Kerry beside it.
What a year in Kilgarvan feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
About 1,993 mm of rain a year
January is the wettest month and June the driest. The wettest of 6 towns of 2,500+ in County Kerry. The wettest month brings about 2.2 times the rain of the driest.
Rain by month
Millimetres
Living with Kilgarvan’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; Kilgarvan’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Sherkin Island
Sherkin Island is 48 km south of Kilgarvan, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 21 m above sea level; Kilgarvan’s centre, 42 m.
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Air frosts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9.8°C | 5.8°C | 123 mm | 0.9 |
| February | 9.5°C | 5.3°C | 81 mm | 0.9 |
| March | 10.2°C | 5.5°C | 82 mm | 0.8 |
| April | 12.1°C | 6.9°C | 64 mm | 0.1 |
| May | 13.9°C | 9.0°C | 66 mm | 0.0 |
| June | 16.5°C | 11.4°C | 73 mm | 0.0 |
| July | 17.7°C | 12.8°C | 86 mm | 0.0 |
| August | 17.5°C | 12.8°C | 90 mm | 0.0 |
| September | 16.5°C | 11.8°C | 89 mm | 0.0 |
| October | 14.3°C | 10.1°C | 106 mm | 0.0 |
| November | 11.6°C | 7.4°C | 109 mm | 0.2 |
| December | 10.3°C | 6.4°C | 127 mm | 1.1 |
| Year | 13.3°C | 8.8°C | 1,095 mm | 4 |
The table is Sherkin Island’s own record, averaged over 2004–2020 from its daily readings (ours, not a Met Éireann table). The rest of the page is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at Kilgarvan itself: past 40 km, the station’s frosts and sunshine don’t stand for the town.
How Kilgarvan 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
Kilgarvan’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 1,993 mm, up 6% from 1,873 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.
Kilgarvan and its neighbours
Every town next door is within half a degree of Kilgarvan in January and July. 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.
Each town’s colour is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at its own centre, so towns a few kilometres apart can differ.
Kilgarvan 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 | 9.6°C | 3.7°C | 6.6°C | 240 mm |
| February | 10.1°C | 3.6°C | 6.9°C | 182 mm |
| March | 11.5°C | 4.3°C | 7.9°C | 151 mm |
| April | 13.8°C | 5.4°C | 9.6°C | 135 mm |
| May | 16.3°C | 7.8°C | 12.1°C | 114 mm |
| June | 18.5°C | 10.4°C | 14.4°C | 107 mm |
| July | 19.8°C | 12.3°C | 16.1°C | 116 mm |
| August | 19.7°C | 12.0°C | 15.9°C | 126 mm |
| September | 18.0°C | 10.4°C | 14.2°C | 145 mm |
| October | 14.8°C | 8.1°C | 11.5°C | 211 mm |
| November | 11.8°C | 5.7°C | 8.7°C | 233 mm |
| December | 10.1°C | 4.2°C | 7.1°C | 235 mm |
| Year | 14.5°C | 7.3°C | 10.9°C | 1,993 mm |
Where Kilgarvan’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 Kilgarvan’s population centre (0.4 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Sherkin Island, 48 km south, from Met Éireann’s station list.
- Frosts and degree days: Sherkin Island’s daily readings, 2004–2020, 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 Kilgarvan’s climate
How warm does Kilgarvan get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 19.8°C.
How cold does Kilgarvan get in winter?
The coldest nights come in February, averaging 3.6°C. Met Éireann counts frosts only at its weather stations, so there is no frost count for the town itself.
How much rain does Kilgarvan get?
About 1,993 mm a year, more than almost every Irish town. January is the wettest month (240 mm) and June the driest (107 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 Kilgarvan itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Sherkin Island.
Are these figures for Kilgarvan itself?
Yes: they are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Kilgarvan’s population centre. The nearest of its synoptic weather stations, Sherkin Island, is 48 km south.
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 Kilgarvan’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 Kilgarvan →
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).