# Summer in Ireland

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-in-ireland/510347>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [September 16, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-in-ireland/510347 "2009-09-16T18:15:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-in-ireland/510347/1 "2009-09-16T18:15:16Z")

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From the [Is it true summer in Ireland starts May 1?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/161/is-it-true-summer-in-ireland-starts-may-1) column:

> [@](#):
>
> “…the meteorological definition is the best one, being very closely to the [weather] statistics,”

Underlining added

…being very closely [WHAT] to the weather statistics???

(I’m guessing ‘tied’, but Kevin Trenberth once beat me savagely for implying that sun-earth geometry was not clearly the origin of the seasons on earth and so I prefer not to offend him.)

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**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-in-ireland/510347/2 "2009-09-17T01:52:28Z")

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I’ll try to find out what’s missing. Thanks for calling this to our attention.

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**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-in-ireland/510347/3 "2009-09-17T17:05:17Z")

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Maybe it’s supposed to be “hewing” instead of “being”.

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**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-in-ireland/510347/4 "2009-09-17T21:25:53Z")

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> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#):
>
> Maybe it’s supposed to be “hewing” instead of “being”.

I never would have thought of that. Although I suspect it is easier to drop a word accidentally than to mistake hewing for being.

Sometimes people will substitute a more common or more familiar word when confronted with an unknown word or usage (I was not familiar with that sense of the word hewing) but with these particular hoof beats, I’m going with horses.

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**Author:** ![lelnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8c91f0/32.png) [@lelnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lelnet)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-in-ireland/510347/5 "2009-09-18T16:37:46Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> I have here an old Irish guidebook (1938) that says summer begins the day after the third Saturday in April (Sunday, presumably)

Probably this is intended to work like the American rule for national elections being held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. That is, it’s the third Sunday, unless the first day in April is a Sunday, in which case it’s the fourth Sunday.