It may not feel like it, but today marks midsummer, the summer solstice and the longest day of the year. And brace yourself for this depressing thought: the nights will get longer from now on.
While most people are scratching their heads wondering where the sun has gone, hundreds of pagans and druids are dressing up in robes and meeting at ancient sites to celebrate the rising of the sun.
"I'm really looking forward to it," says Mr Bev Richardson, who describes himself as a pagan and a witch. "It's like Christmas for us - but maybe that's a bad comparison. It's the highlight of the solar year."
Yesterday he was expecting a group of about 40 people at his Castle Pook estate in Doneraile, Co Cork. They had planned to light a fire and stay up all night in a small, open circle, telling stories, singing and celebrating.
Sites such as the Hill of Tara, Navan Fort in Armagh and Loughcrew are all popular gathering points to mark the summer solstice. While Newgrange is traditionally associated with the winter solstice, some people have planned visits to the site today.
Tara is one of the most popular sites at this time of year, but yesterday there was no sign of the customary crowd setting up tents in the car park.
"We usually see them gathering the day before with their tents," said a Dúchas spokeswoman. "But we were just saying how quiet it is. I don't know why." Perhaps the druids were distracted by the World Cup or maybe the weather was putting them off, she speculated.
For those of us more interested in getting a tan from the sun, Met Éireann is forecasting more rain up to Sunday but suggests that the weather may be more settled in the days following.
