Fifty names for Irish rain

Sir, – 54. St Swithin’s Day rain. 55. Wally Macken’s Rain on the Wind. 56. Rain that will be over soon. 57. Wet rain

Sir, – 54. St Swithin’s Day rain. 55. Wally Macken’s Rain on the Wind. 56. Rain that will be over soon. 57. Wet rain. 58. The cur that is báistí-ing! 59. Rain that you can stand in out of. – Yours, etc,

OLIVER MCGRANE,

Marley Avenue,

Rathfarnham,

Dublin 16.

Sir, – 60. Sodden rain. 61. South Easterly Gale rain. 62. Down in the last shower rain. 63. Wet T-Shirt rain. 64. Queen Victoria’s rain. 65. That Fianna Fáil shower. 66. Irish Mist. 67. Angela’s Ashes rain. 68. Lá Fliuch. – Yours, etc,

MICHAEL C O’CONNOR,

Dunmore Road,

Waterford.

Sir, – Frank McNally reigns again! In his latest list of over 50 ways of describing rain (An Irishman’s Diary, August 18th), he referred to Jean Byrne of Met Éireann. However, he refrained from alluding to her respected colleague, Gerald Fleming. 69. He used to take the sting out of the tail, with his soft patter and the wink of any eye, by telling us to expect “Bits and pieces of rain”. – Yours, etc,

CLARE BALFE,

Innisfallen Parade,

Dublin 7.