Heatwave takes toll despite rain reprieve

Mayo, 16 July 1923- There was temporary relief from Ireland’s July heatwave yesterday as heavy rain fell over midlands and western counties where temperatures were reported to have fallen by 10 degree Fahrenheit. The rain fell lighter in Dublin, to little effect on the warm, muggy conditions until later in the evening when a heavier downpour helped reduce temperatures.

Yesterday’s rainfall comes after a period of sustained hot weather which has exacted a heavy human price in places. In Ballina, Co. Mayo, a child was reported to have died of sunstroke, while in Dublin, a 45 year-old man, a laborer from the North Wall, died from natural causes believed to have been accelerated by the heat.

Press reports from recent days indicate that mid afternoon temperatures in Dublin on July 12 were recorded as high as 83 degrees Fahrenheit in the sun, but this was far from being the country’s peak level. In Cork, Waterford and Kerry, temperatures at the same time on the same day were recorded as being in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

The hot weather has seen a rush to beaches along Ireland’s coastline with heavy traffic reported on Dublin trams bound for the usual popular seaside bathing resorts. And in Belfast, where shipyards and factories typically close for ‘Twelfth’ week celebrations, thousands of people have been flocking to the coasts in search of cooling sea breezes and waters. 

However, the rush to cool down in the sea and other waterways has also been accompanied by a series of tragic drownings. For instance, a member of the National Army drowned when bathing near Markree Castle, Co. Sligo, where several of his comrades attempted to come to his rescue. Drownings were also reported in the River Immy, Co. Longford and in Newry’ seagoing canal, where a 12 year-old child lost his life. A special constable in the north, who has been named as William Smeeth, a native of Newtownhamilton, also drowned while bathing in a pond near the barracks at Forkhill, Co. Armagh. 

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]