Ireland’s 1740 Cold Snap

This holiday season the news was full of pictures and stories of stranded airline passengers because of the snow in Dublin and other parts of Europe.

In the Irish Independent newspaper there was an article on 30 December 2010 about the cold snap of 1740. There is a new book written by Trinity College Dublin history Professor David Dickson called “Arctic Ireland.” I have not read the book but am looking forward to getting a copy.

Hundreds of thousands of Irish died during “The Great Frost.” It brought the country and Europe to a standstill. They believe “The Great Frost” may have been the result of volcanic activity in Russia. The devastation began on 29 December 1739 and went into 1741.

To find out more you can read the article here.

©2011 – Blair Archival Research

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