I had set out to learn about Ireland through researching the photographic archive of the National Library in Ireland (doing a "dive in" archeology, basically, of their online images and looking at reading room documents) I noticed that the war time photographs were the only ones that were not properly dated. Their dates where either 1930-40s or 1940s whereas the same motives from before or after would at least have a certain year, if not even exact date. I approach the Library with a request about this simple issue, by asking how the filing was done during the war - or if it was done afterwards - but I never hear back from them.

On the 1st of September 1939 Irish Times predicted the weather as follows : General Inference. – Throughs of low pressure are moving north-eastwards across the British Isles. Weather will be mainly cloudy with occasional rain. Ireland, all Districts. – Wind south moderate veering south-west; occasional rain at first; bright, intervals later; becoming cooler.

On the 2:nd of September the forecast is missing and will not reappear until the 10th of September 1945. In that afternoon of the 2nd of September the Dáil Éireann passed an Emergency Powers Act which also concerned the wartime censorship. The actual Act was published in the paper on the following day, in a special edition, but Ironically though these pages are missing on the microfilm in the library. No one can explain that to me either - in a second request that I send.... Anyhow I never read the actual article stating the censorship on the weather. It doesn't matter - its a fact - the weather forecast goes missing from one day to another - and that actually a day too early. The paper must have been out, without forecast already in the morning..... and the meeting was held in the afternoon that same day.

Some pictures went missing too. After the lifting of the censorship in 1945 Irish TImes published a series of pictures, on each day, called "They can be published now, pictures that were stopped by the Censor during the war". Number 8 in that row was Mr. P. J. Little, Minister for Posts and Telegraphs skating in Herbert Park, Dublin. One wonder if it really was censored because of the ice stating it was cold?

I email Met Eirann and get: "We have very little data for the period you require (1939 - 1946). Records are available for Valentia, Co. Kerry from 1940 and from Dublin Airport from 1942. There is a charge for this data. Please see our website http://www.met.ie/contactus/charges.asp for details."

Dónal Ó Drisceoil States in his text "Censorship in Ireland, 1939 - 1945. Neutrality, Politics and Society. (1996 Cork: Cork University Press.):
"The Brittish were supplied with "a constant stream of intelligence information". And the Irish later obliged the Americans in a similar fashion. This information included weather reports...."
Hempel (see John P Duggan. (2003) Herr Hempel at the German Legation in Dublin 1937-1945. Dublin Irish Academic Press) though, who was stationed in Ireland could have easily transmitted the meteorological information to Germany. Although Ó Drisceoil also states that the value of this information has probably been overestimated. Yes, that is what I think too... So I try to get in touch with the Military Archives in Rathmines in Dublin and I manage to reach the archives (they of course do not use email) on their phone and have a friendly conversation with (COMDT OIC MILITARY ARCHIVES) Victor Lang. He assures me that there are records of the weather from that time. Only he would have to have an initial look at what amount of material we were talking about and in which form they would be accessibly to me. It sound like; basically no problem, we can set an appointment. Later he sends me a nice thick stamped and signed letter saying;
"reference yours in respect of your research on the weather I have carried out some investigation in this area with some colleagues who have advised me that the best location to access this type of information with particular reference to what you require is contained in the National Archives at Ruskin Ave, Richmond, Surrey, England."

For years Brendan McWilliams (deceased in 2007) wrote a weather column called the “Weather Eye” for the Irish Times. This excert is from Irish Times, June the 7th 2004. “But there was a lighter side to all this secrecy. Dr. John de Courcy Ireland, who needs no introduction to readers of this paper, tells of one such episode during the years of the Emergency: “I remember a particularly hilarious issue of The Irish Times around 1943. In this issue there were columns and columns of reports of people falling into the Liffey or into the canals, inexplicable collisions, and other remarkable happenings in Dublin. They would have caused a casual visitor to the capital to suppose that at least fifty per cent of Dubliners had been drunk the previous day. But in fact there had occurred the worst fog I ever remember in Dublin - and any mention of that fact had been rigorously suppressed to satisfy the censor.”."

The Cardall Photograph Collection is a collection of ca 5000 Irish landscape photographs, that are views of 218 towns or villages and surrounding landscapes, with the intention to function as commercial postcards, cataloged to be photographed in the 30s and 40s. Unknown photographer. Looking through them is like traveling all around Ireland, and time traveling too. There was 230 foggy pictures from which of there is 100 corresponding negatives.

 

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