Nephosthe weather behind the paintings

View Markey’s townscape in the gallery’s collection. Reproduction permission has not been established for this study.

See Drogheda, 1921 at Highlanes Gallery

Thomas Markey, Drogheda, 1921. Oil on canvas, 83 × 173 cm. Drogheda Municipal Art Collection, Highlanes Gallery, 013. Transferred 1953. Painting not reproduced.

A study against the weather record

Thomas Markey

Drogheda, 1921

1921 · Oil on canvas · Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda Municipal Art Collection, 013 · Transferred 1953

Highlanes describes an older view of Drogheda updated with Black and Tans and military aeroplanes. What does a nearby rain gauge establish about the year named in the painting?

2months, April and June, are the driest in their complete same-month comparisons at Ardgillan. The painting’s season remains unknown.

Catalogue-year contextPainted season unknown

The recordsThe painting at Highlanes

The Nephos method

How this study was read

The method in full

  1. What is written

    Highlanes dates the canvas to 1921 and describes Ricciardelli’s Ball’s Grove view brought up to date with political elements, including Black and Tans and military aeroplanes. No dated sitting, inscription, season or making sequence has been established. The calendar year supplies context only.

  2. Records of those days

    • Ardgillan Castle, RR/D/14/119.1 km from the Drogheda town reference. All 365 daily rainfall entries in 1921 have indicator 0. Daily sums supply annual and separate monthly comparisons.
    • Met Éireann / Maynooth rainfall rescueRyan et al. (2021), doi:10.1002/gdj3.103. Double-keyed raw data with basic quality checks; the station metadata supplies units, observation time and flags.

    Not found or not yet searched

    • The gallery’s direct page timed out; object details and short quotations were read in its search-indexed catalogue text.
    • No independent local weather passage or artist weather statement was verified. No painted season or outdoor sitting is assumed.
    • Ardee’s downloaded series ends in July 1913. Ardgillan’s archive ends in February 1938, so no same-station modern normal is available here.

  3. Each claim tested

    • Was the whole year exceptionally dry near Drogheda? Ardgillan totals 699.0 mm, rank 10 driest of 41 complete years (1895–1936). The strongest deficits are monthly; this is not an Ireland-wide rank.
    • Does the annual total hide contrasting months? April has 19.8 mm and June 2.8 mm, each driest of its 43 complete matching months. July brings 102.9 mm. These calendar months do not date the picture.
    • Can the records reveal what Markey changed in the sky? No. The gallery documents an older compositional model and political additions. Rainfall without a painted day, verified sky description or making evidence cannot identify an altered sky.

  4. Verdict

    A composed town view beside an uneven rainfall year: very dry April and June at a nearby gauge, with a much wetter July. The sky and season in the painting remain undated.

    • Partially agreesRainfall context for the catalogue year Nearby daily rainfall is measurable; the full year is not an outdoor-session window.
    • UnknownThe painted day, season and sky No documentary link joins this composition to a dated weather observation.

What this cannot tell you. Only nonnegative amounts with indicator 0 (OK) or 4 (trace); a complete calendar window is required for every total and rank. Indicator 4 is an observed trace (<0.05 mm) encoded as zero; it is not an observed absence of rain. Estimated values, accumulations, unavailable entries and absent dates remain excluded, with raw token and indicator retained. No infilling or redistribution. Competition rank: one plus the number of strictly smaller accepted totals; ties and comparison counts are retained. Months use their own complete-year sets. Provider dates are retained. A morning gauge total is not a midnight-to-midnight description of the painted sky. Raw rescued daily data with basic transcription checks, not a homogenized climate series. Rainfall does not measure sunshine, cloud form, river flow or political events. The gauge is outside Drogheda. A dry month does not establish clear skies or dry conditions throughout the town, and the Boyne’s flow is not measured.

Step 1 · The picture

An older view brought into 1921

Thomas Markey was a self-taught artist who worked as a carpenter for Drogheda’s Corporation. Highlanes identifies this broad oil painting as an updated version of Ricciardelli’s view from Ball’s Grove. According to Highlanes’ description, the inherited townscape includes political elements: Black and Tans and military aeroplanes. Those additions change the historical setting of an older composition; they do not document an outdoor sitting. The catalogue dates accession 013 to 1921 and records its transfer in 1953.

The search-indexed gallery record supplies the object details used here; direct retrieval of the page timed out. No inscription, exhibition date, artist’s letter or making account narrowing the year has been established. The comparison therefore covers the whole calendar year 1921, an explicitly chosen context window. No month, season, painting day or on-the-spot execution is assigned.

The gallery describes the political additions but gives no weather-specific account of this picture. No independent visual season or cloud diagnosis is proposed in this study. Its documented relationship to an older view is a reason to keep composition and observed weather separate.

“based on Ricciardelli’s View of Drogheda from Ball’s Grove”

Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, 1921, accession 013; short catalogue excerpt

Step 2 · The nearby record

Very dry months within an uneven year

The rainfall register at Ardgillan Castle, Balbriggan lies 19.1 km from the Drogheda town reference. The rescued daily file retains all 365 dates in 1921 with the provider’s OK indicator. April totals 19.8 mm; June totals 2.8 mm. Each is the driest of 43 complete matching months, with no tie. July, however, brings 102.9 mm. The year does not sustain one unchanging weather description.

Every bar below is a calendar-month sum at this gauge. The dots show other complete examples of that same month in the file. The two especially dry months are shown within the full year; neither is selected as the painting’s season.

Ardgillan rainfall in 1921, month by monthMonthly totals in millimetres, summed from daily entries. April and June are driest in their complete same-month comparisons. July is much wetter. This is a nearby gauge, not weather dated to the painting.Rainfall · mm · Ardgillan050100150200January 1894: 60.5 mmJanuary 1895: 94.0 mmJanuary 1896: 30.0 mmJanuary 1897: 61.2 mmJanuary 1898: 47.8 mmJanuary 1899: 87.4 mmJanuary 1900: 79.5 mmJanuary 1901: 91.2 mmJanuary 1902: 49.0 mmJanuary 1903: 90.4 mmJanuary 1904: 62.2 mmJanuary 1905: 37.8 mmJanuary 1906: 78.0 mmJanuary 1907: 15.0 mmJanuary 1908: 47.0 mmJanuary 1909: 28.7 mmJanuary 1910: 86.1 mmJanuary 1911: 27.2 mmJanuary 1912: 90.2 mmJanuary 1913: 129.0 mmJanuary 1914: 22.4 mmJanuary 1915: 50.8 mmJanuary 1916: 33.5 mmJanuary 1917: 43.7 mmJanuary 1918: 67.3 mmJanuary 1919: 73.4 mmJanuary 1920: 114.0 mmJanuary 1922: 68.6 mmJanuary 1923: 48.3 mmJanuary 1924: 99.8 mmJanuary 1925: 55.6 mmJanuary 1926: 99.8 mmJanuary 1927: 62.0 mmJanuary 1928: 89.4 mmJanuary 1929: 48.8 mmJanuary 1930: 104.9 mmJanuary 1931: 52.8 mmJanuary 1932: 52.6 mmJanuary 1933: 40.1 mmJanuary 1935: 25.9 mmJanuary 1936: 103.1 mmJanuary 1937: 74.9 mmJanuary 1938: 79.8 mmJanuary 1921: 84.6 mm; rank 31 driest of 44JanFebruary 1895: 15.7 mmFebruary 1896: 38.4 mmFebruary 1897: 34.0 mmFebruary 1898: 45.5 mmFebruary 1899: 47.2 mmFebruary 1900: 82.3 mmFebruary 1901: 24.1 mmFebruary 1902: 62.0 mmFebruary 1903: 56.1 mmFebruary 1904: 102.6 mmFebruary 1905: 16.3 mmFebruary 1906: 34.0 mmFebruary 1907: 51.3 mmFebruary 1908: 36.3 mmFebruary 1909: 11.7 mmFebruary 1910: 72.1 mmFebruary 1911: 60.7 mmFebruary 1912: 71.9 mmFebruary 1913: 17.8 mmFebruary 1914: 56.1 mmFebruary 1915: 78.5 mmFebruary 1916: 71.9 mmFebruary 1917: 46.2 mmFebruary 1918: 75.4 mmFebruary 1919: 41.9 mmFebruary 1920: 45.7 mmFebruary 1922: 49.0 mmFebruary 1923: 141.5 mmFebruary 1924: 12.2 mmFebruary 1925: 96.3 mmFebruary 1926: 69.3 mmFebruary 1927: 67.8 mmFebruary 1928: 73.7 mmFebruary 1929: 104.9 mmFebruary 1930: 28.4 mmFebruary 1931: 45.0 mmFebruary 1932: 5.8 mmFebruary 1933: 64.0 mmFebruary 1935: 83.8 mmFebruary 1936: 47.2 mmFebruary 1937: 119.1 mmFebruary 1938: 17.3 mmFebruary 1921: 19.3 mm; rank 8 driest of 43FebMarch 1894: 31.0 mmMarch 1895: 73.2 mmMarch 1896: 85.9 mmMarch 1897: 80.3 mmMarch 1898: 21.1 mmMarch 1899: 20.3 mmMarch 1900: 21.1 mmMarch 1901: 47.2 mmMarch 1902: 39.1 mmMarch 1903: 98.0 mmMarch 1904: 52.3 mmMarch 1905: 76.5 mmMarch 1906: 29.5 mmMarch 1907: 49.0 mmMarch 1908: 70.9 mmMarch 1909: 80.3 mmMarch 1910: 33.8 mmMarch 1911: 45.2 mmMarch 1912: 78.2 mmMarch 1913: 50.3 mmMarch 1914: 52.6 mmMarch 1915: 19.1 mmMarch 1916: 70.1 mmMarch 1917: 64.5 mmMarch 1918: 32.3 mmMarch 1919: 55.4 mmMarch 1920: 58.7 mmMarch 1922: 37.6 mmMarch 1923: 33.8 mmMarch 1924: 37.8 mmMarch 1925: 13.5 mmMarch 1926: 23.9 mmMarch 1927: 83.1 mmMarch 1928: 106.2 mmMarch 1929: 10.7 mmMarch 1930: 100.3 mmMarch 1931: 55.6 mmMarch 1932: 31.8 mmMarch 1933: 51.8 mmMarch 1935: 19.6 mmMarch 1936: 46.5 mmMarch 1937: 83.1 mmMarch 1921: 59.4 mm; rank 29 driest of 43MarApril 1894: 80.5 mmApril 1895: 59.2 mmApril 1896: 21.1 mmApril 1897: 91.7 mmApril 1898: 79.5 mmApril 1899: 52.6 mmApril 1900: 45.7 mmApril 1901: 24.9 mmApril 1902: 50.5 mmApril 1903: 26.4 mmApril 1904: 28.2 mmApril 1905: 40.1 mmApril 1906: 36.6 mmApril 1907: 63.5 mmApril 1908: 53.3 mmApril 1909: 88.9 mmApril 1910: 48.5 mmApril 1911: 38.9 mmApril 1912: 28.4 mmApril 1913: 84.6 mmApril 1914: 33.8 mmApril 1915: 45.2 mmApril 1916: 35.1 mmApril 1917: 37.3 mmApril 1918: 39.6 mmApril 1919: 31.8 mmApril 1920: 74.4 mmApril 1922: 68.3 mmApril 1923: 90.4 mmApril 1924: 71.4 mmApril 1925: 54.4 mmApril 1926: 43.4 mmApril 1927: 28.4 mmApril 1928: 35.3 mmApril 1929: 33.5 mmApril 1930: 28.4 mmApril 1931: 50.0 mmApril 1932: 58.2 mmApril 1933: 29.0 mmApril 1935: 71.6 mmApril 1936: 37.8 mmApril 1937: 46.7 mmApril 1921: 19.8 mm; rank 1 driest of 43AprMay 1894: 63.8 mmMay 1895: 3.6 mmMay 1896: 7.1 mmMay 1897: 22.1 mmMay 1898: 67.3 mmMay 1899: 56.9 mmMay 1900: 51.8 mmMay 1901: 33.8 mmMay 1902: 75.2 mmMay 1903: 65.0 mmMay 1904: 74.9 mmMay 1905: 32.8 mmMay 1906: 77.0 mmMay 1907: 63.8 mmMay 1908: 55.9 mmMay 1909: 35.6 mmMay 1910: 56.1 mmMay 1911: 28.2 mmMay 1912: 25.7 mmMay 1913: 77.2 mmMay 1914: 48.3 mmMay 1915: 36.6 mmMay 1916: 159.0 mmMay 1917: 84.1 mmMay 1918: 64.0 mmMay 1919: 38.4 mmMay 1920: 77.2 mmMay 1922: 20.8 mmMay 1923: 41.9 mmMay 1924: 81.0 mmMay 1925: 103.1 mmMay 1926: 45.5 mmMay 1927: 27.7 mmMay 1928: 28.7 mmMay 1929: 44.7 mmMay 1930: 41.1 mmMay 1931: 74.4 mmMay 1932: 95.8 mmMay 1933: 49.8 mmMay 1935: 36.8 mmMay 1936: 43.7 mmMay 1937: 27.2 mmMay 1921: 59.9 mm; rank 27 driest of 43MayJune 1894: 36.1 mmJune 1895: 67.8 mmJune 1896: 58.9 mmJune 1897: 88.9 mmJune 1898: 44.5 mmJune 1899: 34.5 mmJune 1900: 67.6 mmJune 1901: 45.2 mmJune 1902: 54.4 mmJune 1903: 47.2 mmJune 1904: 30.5 mmJune 1905: 31.5 mmJune 1906: 66.0 mmJune 1907: 87.6 mmJune 1908: 37.8 mmJune 1909: 47.0 mmJune 1910: 117.3 mmJune 1911: 78.5 mmJune 1912: 90.9 mmJune 1913: 32.8 mmJune 1914: 35.1 mmJune 1915: 36.6 mmJune 1916: 62.7 mmJune 1917: 28.2 mmJune 1918: 37.3 mmJune 1919: 64.8 mmJune 1920: 62.0 mmJune 1922: 30.5 mmJune 1923: 26.7 mmJune 1924: 55.9 mmJune 1925: 4.1 mmJune 1926: 58.4 mmJune 1927: 57.4 mmJune 1928: 112.3 mmJune 1929: 33.3 mmJune 1930: 37.8 mmJune 1931: 111.5 mmJune 1932: 29.7 mmJune 1933: 40.1 mmJune 1935: 90.9 mmJune 1936: 83.1 mmJune 1937: 32.5 mmJune 1921: 2.8 mm; rank 1 driest of 43JunJuly 1894: 88.9 mmJuly 1895: 119.1 mmJuly 1896: 178.6 mmJuly 1897: 35.8 mmJuly 1898: 13.2 mmJuly 1899: 94.7 mmJuly 1900: 92.5 mmJuly 1901: 41.7 mmJuly 1902: 68.1 mmJuly 1903: 84.8 mmJuly 1904: 57.7 mmJuly 1905: 26.2 mmJuly 1906: 29.5 mmJuly 1907: 30.7 mmJuly 1908: 77.7 mmJuly 1909: 80.0 mmJuly 1910: 71.4 mmJuly 1911: 55.9 mmJuly 1912: 83.1 mmJuly 1913: 29.5 mmJuly 1914: 65.0 mmJuly 1915: 141.5 mmJuly 1916: 47.0 mmJuly 1917: 64.8 mmJuly 1918: 81.3 mmJuly 1919: 16.8 mmJuly 1920: 133.9 mmJuly 1922: 74.4 mmJuly 1923: 66.5 mmJuly 1924: 90.4 mmJuly 1925: 79.0 mmJuly 1926: 72.6 mmJuly 1927: 88.4 mmJuly 1928: 33.0 mmJuly 1929: 45.0 mmJuly 1930: 94.5 mmJuly 1931: 94.5 mmJuly 1932: 106.4 mmJuly 1933: 45.5 mmJuly 1935: 17.3 mmJuly 1936: 137.2 mmJuly 1937: 55.6 mmJuly 1921: 102.9 mm; rank 37 driest of 43JulAugust 1894: 64.8 mmAugust 1895: 128.5 mmAugust 1896: 30.7 mmAugust 1897: 114.3 mmAugust 1898: 117.1 mmAugust 1899: 105.4 mmAugust 1900: 155.2 mmAugust 1901: 72.4 mmAugust 1902: 70.9 mmAugust 1903: 87.1 mmAugust 1904: 100.3 mmAugust 1905: 175.0 mmAugust 1906: 75.2 mmAugust 1907: 48.0 mmAugust 1908: 50.5 mmAugust 1909: 25.7 mmAugust 1910: 109.5 mmAugust 1911: 59.4 mmAugust 1912: 157.7 mmAugust 1913: 10.4 mmAugust 1914: 83.3 mmAugust 1915: 82.8 mmAugust 1916: 48.0 mmAugust 1917: 172.5 mmAugust 1918: 56.6 mmAugust 1919: 59.2 mmAugust 1920: 50.3 mmAugust 1922: 98.6 mmAugust 1923: 138.7 mmAugust 1924: 104.6 mmAugust 1925: 55.1 mmAugust 1926: 96.3 mmAugust 1927: 121.2 mmAugust 1928: 82.5 mmAugust 1929: 110.5 mmAugust 1930: 117.9 mmAugust 1931: 94.7 mmAugust 1932: 68.3 mmAugust 1933: 25.9 mmAugust 1935: 50.3 mmAugust 1936: 34.8 mmAugust 1937: 48.8 mmAugust 1921: 91.7 mm; rank 25 driest of 43AugSeptember 1894: 2.8 mmSeptember 1895: 9.7 mmSeptember 1896: 133.9 mmSeptember 1897: 58.7 mmSeptember 1898: 54.1 mmSeptember 1899: 69.6 mmSeptember 1900: 26.4 mmSeptember 1901: 87.1 mmSeptember 1902: 72.4 mmSeptember 1903: 79.8 mmSeptember 1904: 71.6 mmSeptember 1905: 24.4 mmSeptember 1906: 24.6 mmSeptember 1907: 17.3 mmSeptember 1908: 97.5 mmSeptember 1909: 44.5 mmSeptember 1910: 19.6 mmSeptember 1911: 20.6 mmSeptember 1912: 19.1 mmSeptember 1913: 140.7 mmSeptember 1914: 27.2 mmSeptember 1915: 16.5 mmSeptember 1916: 46.5 mmSeptember 1917: 32.0 mmSeptember 1918: 124.7 mmSeptember 1919: 50.5 mmSeptember 1920: 35.6 mmSeptember 1922: 62.2 mmSeptember 1923: 68.1 mmSeptember 1924: 149.4 mmSeptember 1925: 64.3 mmSeptember 1926: 44.7 mmSeptember 1927: 98.3 mmSeptember 1928: 30.7 mmSeptember 1929: 8.4 mmSeptember 1930: 146.3 mmSeptember 1931: 100.3 mmSeptember 1932: 51.1 mmSeptember 1933: 31.0 mmSeptember 1935: 104.4 mmSeptember 1936: 82.5 mmSeptember 1937: 50.3 mmSeptember 1921: 39.1 mm; rank 17 driest of 43SepOctober 1895: 75.7 mmOctober 1896: 41.9 mmOctober 1897: 60.2 mmOctober 1898: 124.2 mmOctober 1899: 19.6 mmOctober 1900: 67.8 mmOctober 1901: 66.5 mmOctober 1902: 53.8 mmOctober 1903: 90.4 mmOctober 1904: 14.0 mmOctober 1905: 26.7 mmOctober 1906: 99.6 mmOctober 1907: 104.6 mmOctober 1908: 64.5 mmOctober 1909: 103.4 mmOctober 1910: 37.8 mmOctober 1911: 95.2 mmOctober 1912: 47.8 mmOctober 1913: 102.4 mmOctober 1914: 52.1 mmOctober 1915: 116.1 mmOctober 1916: 186.2 mmOctober 1917: 81.5 mmOctober 1918: 70.4 mmOctober 1919: 58.2 mmOctober 1920: 153.7 mmOctober 1922: 32.5 mmOctober 1923: 61.7 mmOctober 1924: 55.9 mmOctober 1925: 65.5 mmOctober 1926: 57.9 mmOctober 1927: 96.0 mmOctober 1928: 94.5 mmOctober 1929: 72.4 mmOctober 1930: 83.6 mmOctober 1931: 30.5 mmOctober 1932: 69.6 mmOctober 1933: 79.2 mmOctober 1935: 64.0 mmOctober 1936: 34.3 mmOctober 1921: 64.5 mm; rank 18 driest of 41OctNovember 1894: 46.2 mmNovember 1895: 101.9 mmNovember 1896: 23.4 mmNovember 1897: 68.6 mmNovember 1898: 99.8 mmNovember 1899: 48.0 mmNovember 1900: 115.1 mmNovember 1901: 128.3 mmNovember 1902: 82.0 mmNovember 1903: 68.6 mmNovember 1904: 42.4 mmNovember 1905: 102.9 mmNovember 1906: 77.0 mmNovember 1907: 72.6 mmNovember 1908: 44.5 mmNovember 1909: 27.9 mmNovember 1910: 94.5 mmNovember 1911: 87.6 mmNovember 1912: 37.8 mmNovember 1913: 68.3 mmNovember 1914: 78.2 mmNovember 1915: 68.6 mmNovember 1916: 128.0 mmNovember 1917: 56.6 mmNovember 1918: 57.7 mmNovember 1919: 53.8 mmNovember 1920: 61.7 mmNovember 1922: 12.7 mmNovember 1923: 56.6 mmNovember 1924: 60.5 mmNovember 1925: 49.5 mmNovember 1926: 92.2 mmNovember 1927: 92.2 mmNovember 1928: 104.9 mmNovember 1929: 103.6 mmNovember 1930: 92.5 mmNovember 1931: 168.9 mmNovember 1932: 25.1 mmNovember 1933: 34.3 mmNovember 1935: 134.6 mmNovember 1936: 81.5 mmNovember 1937: 59.9 mmNovember 1921: 94.7 mm; rank 33 driest of 43NovDecember 1894: 50.8 mmDecember 1895: 74.2 mmDecember 1896: 123.2 mmDecember 1897: 66.0 mmDecember 1898: 35.8 mmDecember 1899: 111.0 mmDecember 1900: 71.4 mmDecember 1901: 57.7 mmDecember 1902: 37.1 mmDecember 1903: 62.0 mmDecember 1904: 52.3 mmDecember 1905: 47.5 mmDecember 1906: 62.2 mmDecember 1907: 66.3 mmDecember 1908: 86.1 mmDecember 1909: 120.9 mmDecember 1910: 134.9 mmDecember 1911: 114.6 mmDecember 1912: 59.2 mmDecember 1913: 49.5 mmDecember 1914: 169.9 mmDecember 1915: 109.0 mmDecember 1916: 76.5 mmDecember 1917: 59.2 mmDecember 1918: 83.8 mmDecember 1919: 132.3 mmDecember 1920: 73.4 mmDecember 1922: 62.2 mmDecember 1923: 70.1 mmDecember 1924: 109.2 mmDecember 1925: 34.8 mmDecember 1926: 18.0 mmDecember 1927: 59.7 mmDecember 1928: 96.5 mmDecember 1929: 148.1 mmDecember 1930: 102.1 mmDecember 1931: 31.8 mmDecember 1932: 114.8 mmDecember 1933: 50.3 mmDecember 1935: 63.5 mmDecember 1936: 61.5 mmDecember 1921: 60.2 mm; rank 15 driest of 42DecRed bars: 1921. Blue dots: other complete matching months, 1894–1938; coverage varies by month.
Daily amounts converted from inches to millimetres before display. Only complete months with accepted indicators enter comparison. Missing, estimated and accumulated entries exclude a month. Historical gauge observations are regional context for this study.
All twelve months and their comparison counts
Ardgillan, 1921. Rank 1 means driest; each month has its own comparison set.
MonthRain · mmDriest rank / monthsAccepted / days
January84.631 / 4431 / 31
February19.38 / 4328 / 28
March59.429 / 4331 / 31
April19.81 / 4330 / 30
May59.927 / 4331 / 31
June2.81 / 4330 / 30
July102.937 / 4331 / 31
August91.725 / 4331 / 31
September39.117 / 4330 / 30
October64.518 / 4131 / 31
November94.733 / 4330 / 30
December60.215 / 4231 / 31

Step 3 · The scale of the claim

A local rainfall rank, with its gaps retained

The full-year total is 699.0 mm (27.52 inches), 10th driest among 41 complete years between 1895 and 1936. This places the year towards the dry end of this station’s archive; it does not establish an exceptional drought across Ireland. April and June stand out more sharply than the annual total.

The archive spans 1894–February 1938. The annual comparison excludes 1894 for estimated daily entries, 1934 and 1937 for missing or accumulated daily amounts, and 1938 because the file ends in February. Monthly ranks admit complete months from otherwise excluded years. Every exclusion and its original indicator survives in the data download.

Ryan and colleagues describe double-keyed rescued records with basic transcription checks. The station metadata identifies a morning reading and a Snowdon gauge, and records a change in gauge elevation after 1933. The comparison is not homogenized. No same-station 1991–2020 normal is available in this file, and a neighbouring modern station has not been substituted.

A second downloaded candidate, Ardee (Lisrenny), ends in July 1913 and cannot supply 1921 observations. No verified local newspaper weather passage or object-linked artist weather statement was recovered in the bounded open search. That is a limit of this study, not evidence that no such witnesses survive.

Every annual comparison and exclusion
Ardgillan annual daily sums. Unknown totals are not treated as zero.
YearRain · mmAccepted / daysDisposition
1894Unknown362 / 365Excluded: gaps or flagged entries
1895822.5365 / 365Included
1896772.9366 / 366Included
1897781.8365 / 365Included
1898749.8365 / 365Included
1899747.3365 / 365Included
1900876.3365 / 365Included
1901720.1365 / 365Included
1902714.5365 / 365Included
1903856.0365 / 365Included
1904689.1366 / 366Included
1905637.5365 / 365Included
1906689.1365 / 365Included
1907669.8365 / 365Included
1908722.1366 / 366Included
1909694.4365 / 365Included
1910881.6365 / 365Included
1911712.0365 / 365Included
1912789.9366 / 366Included
1913792.5365 / 365Included
1914723.9365 / 365Included
1915801.1365 / 365Included
1916964.4366 / 366Included
1917770.6365 / 365Included
1918790.4365 / 365Included
1919676.4365 / 365Included
1920940.6366 / 366Included
1921699.0365 / 365Included
1922617.5365 / 365Included
1923844.3365 / 365Included
1924928.1366 / 366Included
1925675.1365 / 365Included
1926722.1365 / 365Included
1927882.1365 / 365Included
1928887.7366 / 366Included
1929763.8365 / 365Included
1930977.9365 / 365Included
1931910.1365 / 365Included
1932709.2366 / 366Included
1933541.0365 / 365Included
1934Unknown0 / 365Excluded: gaps or flagged entries
1935762.8365 / 365Included
1936793.2366 / 366Included
1937Unknown303 / 365Excluded: gaps or flagged entries
1938Unknown59 / 365Excluded: gaps or flagged entries

Step 4 · What the records support

The year around the picture, not a day inside it

The gallery’s account establishes an inherited view updated with the politics of 1921. The rain gauge establishes strong differences between months in that catalogue year. Together they offer a way to discuss how a painting gives a historical moment a coherent setting while an actual year contains many kinds of weather.

Rainfall alone cannot verify the painted light, identify a cloud type, measure the Boyne’s flow or show whether Markey changed an observed sky. Those questions remain unknown without a firmer making history and a documented date. Nothing in this study dates the canvas by seeking a convenient weather match.

Return to the painting at Highlanes Gallery

Sources

Every source on this page

Weather values are rebuilt from exact Met Éireann archive members checked against their sha256 fingerprints. The gallery entries are saved search-indexed excerpts, because direct page retrieval timed out. Downloads, text extraction and saved excerpts have distinct receipts. A fingerprint preserves the version used; it does not independently validate a historical interpretation. Retrieval dates below use UTC.

  1. Ardee (Lisrenny) metadata, RR/D/17/1; rejectedCC BY 4.0; Met Éireann; Ryan et al. (2021), doi:10.1002/gdj3.103 · retrieved 16 October 2026 · Pre_1940 rainfall_data/RainData/ARDEE (LISRENNY)/ARDEE (LISRENNY) METADATA.txtsha256 50f8ca89ba0930184be13b6a8c879baa74bf523e59ca3d0fcf89611ed2cc7be0Exact archive member extracted using bounded HTTP byte ranges; CRC32 verified. Rejected for 1921: series ends July 1913.
  2. Ardee (Lisrenny) daily rainfall, 1886–July 1913; rejectedCC BY 4.0; Met Éireann; Ryan et al. (2021), doi:10.1002/gdj3.103 · retrieved 16 October 2026 · Pre_1940 rainfall_data/RainData/ARDEE (LISRENNY)/ARDEE (LISRENNY).csvsha256 9aa766f7af9375f4298f9d82f72a16ef8373c158c04d23410ae8d660f15784a0Exact archive member extracted using bounded HTTP byte ranges; CRC32 verified. Rejected for 1921: series ends July 1913.
  3. Ardgillan Castle station metadata, RR/D/14/1CC BY 4.0; Met Éireann; Ryan et al. (2021), doi:10.1002/gdj3.103 · retrieved 16 October 2026 · Pre_1940 rainfall_data/RainData/ARDGILLAN/ARDGILLAN METADATA.txtsha256 9eb10b216f0b1c40f9c235cb83d4bdce5814bef68492d3c0133bc667402f080eExact archive member extracted using bounded HTTP byte ranges; CRC32 verified.
  4. Ardgillan Castle daily rainfall, 1894–February 1938CC BY 4.0; Met Éireann; Ryan et al. (2021), doi:10.1002/gdj3.103 · retrieved 16 October 2026 · Pre_1940 rainfall_data/RainData/ARDGILLAN/ARDGILLAN.csvsha256 933d6cc0447bf3db94a5df97455bd2eb07791a932a7ffb44c7db5867ac1215a1Exact archive member extracted using bounded HTTP byte ranges; CRC32 verified.
  5. Highlanes Gallery, Thomas Markey biographyCopyright Highlanes Gallery; short attributed excerpt · retrieved 16 October 2026sha256 7054b3bab8d54505bc139010c1121246353384f693bbe9cd0e83fed9c9a5b643Saved search-indexed biography excerpt from another Markey object record; not the study object.
  6. Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000, revised section 24Law Reform Commission legal text; short attributed excerpt · retrieved 16 October 2026sha256 549f94a771a21b828ed9361cbfa16526b04004607012f9b9100d99073a7c6ccbWeb-tool excerpt and gallery footer notice; permission remains unresolved.
  7. Met Éireann open-data catalogue, pre-1940 rainfallCC BY 4.0 · retrieved 16 October 2026sha256 02ece8a40bae41ca8bf431c839d8cdfbe24c4478b163424ae961614c104e1b4eDownloaded CKAN catalogue JSON; includes dataset-specific licence.
  8. Ryan et al., Ireland’s pre-1940 daily rainfall records (2021)Creative Commons Attribution; copyright 2020 the authors · retrieved 16 October 2026sha256 61c2c4d87135b029fb3861f539a99b63fbab1ebe1463711d43bff217e75cc3c3Geoscience Data Journal 8:11–23; doi:10.1002/gdj3.103. Original downloaded PDF.
  9. Text extraction of Ryan et al. (2021)Creative Commons Attribution; original authors; extraction by Nephos · retrieved 16 October 2026sha256 4397f8d0535940546db8648ccd4df53049a568a414fa54d44806421ea23990dcPyMuPDF text extraction, not an independent source; PDF pp. 10–12 for methods and limits.
  10. OpenStreetMap, Drogheda localityODbL 1.0; OpenStreetMap contributors · retrieved 16 October 2026sha256 5cdb17507ba3828fbfc0f5aa12b56f402226050b3c8e35ca295933608bcf5477Town relation 14584315; a locality reference, not the painted viewpoint.
  11. Nephos receipt for four archive membersNephos acquisition metadata; source weather data CC BY 4.0 · retrieved 16 October 2026sha256 92fd9969a0f36c7e6fa90dd41e3c8215094aa493e2620aa7f498ec7c99e03ea1Byte ranges, member names, sizes, CRC32 and sha256; archive itself not downloaded in full.

The numbers on this page, as JSONThe method card, as JSON