ADVICE APPRECIATED- Ireland in November??

Hmm.

Well, it depends what kinda holiday you guys both want. The wind and rain isn't that big a problem; you can buy clothing for it and/or spend time in a nice cosy bar with a fire. It depends what kinda weather you're used to wherever you live in the world.

However, the daylight's more of a bugger. http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=78&month=11&year=2014&obj=sun&afl=-11&day=1 gives a list of sunrise and sunset times. As you'll see it's not bad at getting up, but it doesn't half set early at that time of the year, so a lot of the time stuff is dark, which isn't great for photography.

Have you booked any flights yet? Where are you flying in from?

Hi Fwoggie, thanks for the advice. We both enjoy exploring- wandering about, taking photo's, experiencing stuff for ourselves. I'm an archaeologist so I have a love of all the old castles and ruins. We don't really do 'adventure' holidays. We are planning to book a few tours and such but mostly just make our own way around and find what we find. I love to photograph although I'm not very good!

We've booked our flights, but it's through a travel agents, so they can be changed no worries :) we both live in Australia so we don't get REALLY cold winters, but my partner has been in America (Denver) during winter and we've both skiied and such before, so we have some idea of what the cold will be like. But still, it'll be a shock! :)

Hi op. Yes fwoggie is right; it's not the cold you have to worry about but rather the lack of daylight. It will be bright in the morning about 8.15am and dark again around 4.30pm. The larger state run heritage sites will be open but its the off season so guided tours etc mightn't be available. You will get some stunning scenery of dark and moody landscapes alright but the lack of daylight is so limiting.

Much as I hate to say it I'd postpone your Ireland trip for another time. For me April, May and September are the best months to travel in Ireland.

Weather is so variable. On average the east gets 40% less rain than the west. We are regularly in Ireland in November and we can always amuse ourselves. many Heritage Ireland managed sites will be closed by the time you propose to visit especially as you move away from the urban areas and particulary Dublin.

Many archaelogical sites are unmanned and have free access and there are lots of them!
R

Ireland is fine in November if you bring waterproof jacket, decent shoes, and just go and see stuff regardless of the weather. It rains all the time anyway!

And Ireland is not part of UK. ;)

...... just to mention, it doesn't rain in the pubs, clubs, theaters etc. go and get on with it, Halloween at the end of the month is noisy and colourful. In Dublin to mention one location, all of your time could be take-up with indoor stuff, Guinness, museums, galleries, etc. The cities' surban railway, "the Dart" follows the line of Dublin Bay stopping at interesting villages and towns, from Howth to Greystones, a stop for the Joyce Tower at Sandycove, you just need the right clothing....... at times the weather is lovely in November influenced by a weather stream from the Azores.

Thanks everyone for the advice- we are thinking now about biting the bullet and going a bit earlier than November- sometime in September to October. I think this will heighten the odds of slightly better overall weather, and it's still a bit off peak season so it shouldnt be massively busy :)

I've toured in Ireland over Thanksgiving (American holiday in late Nov.) many times, The weather has never kept me from doing/seeing anything I wanted, but the early sunset can be a PITA.
Don't worry, just come whenever you can, and don't miss Newgrange!

I'm Irish and we always say it would be a great little country if only we could put a roof over it!! That said it will be dark around 5pm and you could be unlucky and get really crappy cold dismal weather. However you could be lucky and get a cold but clear day with blue skies. There's no predicting in Ireland. It's supposedly summer at the moment but it's totally overcast, rainy and cold.