200 M‘Sweeny, on the Climate of Ireland. 
A good deal of information relating to the weather in Ireland, may be collected 
from Ware’s Annals. ‘The following are extracts : 
** A.D.1171 This winter the English soldiers, by the scarcity of provision, and change 
of air and diet, contracted several distempers, and many died. 
“©1172 A very tempestuous winter, the king having stayed three months in Dublin. 
‘*€1192 This likewise may seem worth the remembering, that this year there were 
so great tempests in Desmond, that many houses and churches were beaten down, and 
much cattle and men destroyed. 
‘1209 The city of Dublin, by reason of some great mortality, being waste and 
desolate, the inhabitants of Bristol flocked thither to mhabit. 
«©1247 The same year, saith Florilegus, there was a marvellous and strange earth- 
quake over England, but saith Feleon, over Ireland, and all the west of the world ; 
and there followed immediately a continual intemperature of the air, with a filthy 
skurf, the winter stormy, cold, and wet, which continued until the 11th of July, and 
put the gardeners, fruiterers, and husbandmen, void of all hope, insomuch that they 
complained that winter was turned to summer, and summer to winter, and that they 
were like to lose all, and be undone. 
‘©1326 The earth received fruitfulness, the air temperature, and the sea calmness. 
‘©1348 This year there was great mortality in all places. 
“1361 About Easter, began a great mortality of men, but few women in England 
and Ireland. 
*©1370 There was a third pestilence in Ireland. 
“1383 The fourth great pestilence was in Ireland. 
“1486 March, there happened so great a storm of wind and rain, that trees were 
pulled up by the roots, and many houses, and some churches, were blown down to the 
ground. 
‘*€1489 This summer proving very pestilent and feverish, many people died. 
“©1491 This year was commonly called by the natives, the dismal year, by reason 
of the continual fall of rain all the summer and autumn, which caused great scarcity 
of all sorts of grain throughout Ireland. 
«< About the latter end of December, after the appearance of a blazing star, which 
shone for some days, a certain grievous and pestilential sickness, commonly called the 
English sweat, began first to afflict this nation. 
‘1492 There was so great a drought this summer, throughout Ireland, that many 
rivers were almost dried up, the cattle dying every where with thirst ; also soon after 
the pestilence began to rage. 
«1500 This year from the middle of September, till the end of winter, Ireland en- 
dured continual rains, and many tempests. 
“1504 This year the pestilence swept away many people, almost every where, but 
especially in Ulster. 
