Ireland's Rain Reputation Doesn't Match Reality, and Americans Don't Seem to Mind Anyway

10 September 2026

New figures show three of Ireland's biggest cities are drier than similarly sized American ones, while US visitor numbers keep climbing regardless.

MunsterBus Tours, the Cork-based operator running guided coach tours across Munster and beyond, says Ireland's soggy reputation doesn't hold up to scrutiny, and American tourists don't appear to be put off by it either way.

That’s because, while Ireland receives an average of 1,288mm (50.7 inches) of rain a year nationally, Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show that 775,400 US citizens visited Ireland in the first seven months of 2026 alone, up 7.6% on the same period last year. Americans have long been Ireland's highest-spending, longest-staying visitor group, so this figure comes as little surprise.

People picture constant grey skies before they've even booked their flights, but the numbers just don't back that up," said Tony Murphy, spokesperson for MunsterBus Tours. "We see it every season, Americans keep coming back, rain or shine, because there's simply too much to see here to let the weather put you off."

The Rain Reality: Ireland vs America

MunsterBus compared five Irish locations against similarly sized, coastal or port cities in the US, using CSO figures as well as rainfall data from Met Éireann and America's NOAA weather agency:

Dublin City and Suburbs (population 1.26 million) vs Richmond, Virginia Metro Area (1.31 million): Dublin gets 35 inches of rain a year; Richmond gets 46 inches.
Cork City (224,000) vs Cape Coral, Florida (roughly 228,000): Cork gets around 40 inches; Cape Coral gets closer to 53-56 inches.
Waterford City (60,000) vs Gulfport, Mississippi (72,500): Waterford gets around 40 inches; Gulfport gets 64 inches.
Limerick City (102,000) vs Green Bay, Wisconsin (107,000): Limerick gets 43 inches; Green Bay gets roughly 30-33 inches of combined rain and snowfall.
Galway City and Suburbs (86,000) vs Bellingham, Washington (91,000): Galway gets 46 inches; Bellingham gets 35-39 inches.

Three of the five, Dublin, Cork and Waterford, come out notably drier than their American equivalents. Only Galway and Limerick, both on Ireland's wetter west coast, actually get more rain than their US matches. The split lines up closely with Ireland's own internal weather divide, where the east and south coasts are traditionally drier than the west, rather than being a cherry-picked result designed to flatter the country.

Waterford's been calling itself the sunny south east for years, and it's nice to finally see a number that backs it up," Murphy said. "But even in the wetter counties, a shower rarely lasts long, and it's never a reason to stay indoors. Between castles, coastal walks, distilleries and warm pubs, there's always somewhere to go, whatever the forecast."

For visitors still wary of a wet week, Murphy's advice is simple: pack layers rather than an umbrella, and build a mix of indoor and outdoor stops into any itinerary. A guided, small group tour of Ireland, he added, takes that planning off a visitor's hands entirely, so a passing shower never derails the day.

How the Data Was Gathered

Irish rainfall figures are drawn from Met Éireann's official 1991-2020 climate averages, alongside individual station data for Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. US rainfall figures are drawn from NOAA climate normals for each comparison city. Population figures for Irish cities and suburbs are taken from the 2022 Census of Ireland (CSO) and Met Éireann growth estimates; US city and metro populations are taken from the US Census Bureau. US visitor figures are drawn from CSO's Inbound Tourism July 2026 release, as reported by The Irish Times, and Tourism Ireland's published market data.

About MunsterBus Tours

Based in Cork, MunsterBus Tours runs guided coach tours across Munster and the wider island of Ireland, specialising in small-group and private multi-day trips for visitors from the US, Canada and beyond.