We toured the west coast of Ireland in Sept. 2010. and definitely want to return. We usually travel to Europe in Sept. and have had some nice weather. Now we are wondering how early in the spring we can return to Ireland.

Our usual March trip is to the Caribbean and I'm ready to give up the beach for another Irish trip. I realize that March probably won't be great, and I really don't mean any "beach weather" but just somewhat nice weather. How about April or May? Or is June through Sept. the only time to go?

We have had good luck with weather in April/May on three occasions ('80. '87, '96). We did the entire perimeter, north and south. Expect some rain, but nothing will put a damper on the beauty of Ireland.
Go for it, TPAYT
Stu

Weather in Ireland is almost totally unpredictable any time of the year - and what's technicaly described as "winter" is rarely much wetter, and not that much colder, than the period the Irish call "summer".

Hours of daylight, however, are totally predictable: there's scarcely any right now, there's hardly any dark in mid-June, and in mid-March and mid-Sept there's exactly 12 hrs of each.

Someone will quote foreign websites that show temps and rainfall vary between months in an average year. But there's no such thing as an average Irish year - never mind an average day. Incidentally, Dublin gets about 20-25% less rain than New York - and in an average year, August is its wettest month.

Though I once arrived in West Cork in late March to find flurries of snow on the ground, as far as weather's concerned it's hard to think of anything you'd want to do in Ireland in July you can't comfortably do in March. Few foreigners come to Ireland to sunbathe at any time of the year: decent cross-country walking's just as easy in March as in May - and a great deal more comfortable than on the odd really hot midsummer day.

The one thing that might be worth checking is opening times. Some relatively remote attractions cut their hours in winter or close, usually till mid-March. Unlikely to be a deal-breaker, but makes sense to double-check.

Don't let the fact that it's not summer put you off. I've been to West Cork numerous time all through the year and you can get better weather in April than in July! It's worth mentioning that the Irish winter (like the summer) is extremely mild - currently it's around -1C and it's making news headlines!

The truth is Irish weather is always unpredictable, as long as you aren't expecting beach weather you won't be disappointed. Also, if you have been in the summer already you'll notice that spring will offer an new perspective with different plants flowering etc.

I would say south though as it is warmer, even in the midst of winter the south coast will be appreciably warmer than up the country - due to the gulf stream.

I was in Ireland for three weeks in March of this year and it was spectacular. The skies were blue, the fields turned deeper green each week, and the beach was wonderful. It was cool, and sometimes breezy, but beautiful all around. There could have been one or two days of rainy mornings (like on the day I arrived at Shannon)

This is sounding better and better!

We were in Ireland the week before Easter in 2009 (first week of April). On a few days at the beginning of the trip, we had short spells of light rain--nothing that prevented us from continuing our sightseeing. At the end of the week, the weather was glorious.
We found that some of the sites, e.g. Heritage Card sites, did not open before Easter and Easter is not until April 24th in 2011. So that's something to consider.

TPAYT, haven't looked lately, but I believe that statistically, Ireland has the least rainfall in April. So many new lambs to see too....