Night of the Big Wind

The storm developed after a period of unusual weather. Heavy snow, rare in Ireland, fell across the country on the night of 5 January, which was replaced on the morning of 6 January by an Atlantic warm front, which brought a period of complete calm with dense, motionless, cloud cover. Through the day, temperatures rose well above their seasonal average, resulting in rapid melting of the snow.{{cite news |last1=Bunbury |first1=Turtle |title=The calm before the Big Wind of 1839 was particularly eerie |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-calm-before-the-big-wind-of-1839-was-particularly-eerie-1.3257684 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}}{{cite news |title=Night Of The Big Wind |url=https://www.rte.ie/archives/2018/1206/1015548-night-of-the-big-wind/ |work=RTÉ Archives |language=en}}{{cite web |title=The 'Night of the Big Wind' in Ireland, 6–7 January 1839 |url=https://www.met.ie/cms/assets/uploads/2017/08/Jan1839_Storm.pdf |publisher=Irish Geography, Volume 22, Issue 1, 1989. ©Taylor & Francis Ltd.}}

Later on 6 January, a deep Atlantic depression began to move towards Ireland, forming a cold front when it collided with the warm air over land, bringing strong winds and heavy rain. First reports of stormy weather came from western County Mayo around noon, and the storm moved very slowly across the island through the day, gathering strength as it moved. By midnight the winds reached hurricane force.

File:The Loss of the Pennsylvania New York Packet Ship- the Lockwoods Emigrant Ship; the Saint Andrew Packet Ship, and the Victoria from Charleston, near Liverpool during the Hurricane on Monday and Tuesday Jany 7th and 8th 1839 RMG PY8504.jpg during the Hurricane on Monday and Tuesday 7–8 January 1839]]

Contemporary accounts of damage indicate that the Night of the Big Wind was the most severe storm to affect Ireland for many centuries. It is estimated that between 250 and 300 people lost their lives in the storm. Severe property damage was caused, particularly in Connacht, but also in Ulster and northern Leinster. Between a fifth and a quarter of all houses in Dublin suffered damage ranging from broken windows to complete destruction. Much of the inland damage was caused by a storm surge that drew large quantities of sea water inland, resulting in widespread flooding.

File:Thud.jpg, Ireland, traditionally said to have blown down in the Big Wind.{{Cite web|url=https://turtlebunbury.com/document/big-wind/|title=The Night of the Big Wind, 1839|date=6 December 2021|website=Turtle Bunbury Histories}}]]

Even well-built buildings suffered structural damage, including new factories and military barracks. The newly constructed St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Derrytrasna was completely destroyed; one of the steeples of the Church of Ireland church in Castlebar was blown down, and a number of large country houses were unroofed. Among the poorly built homes of the poor, damage was more severe and many were completely destroyed. A total of 42 ships, most along the less sheltered west coast, were wrecked while unsuccessfully trying to ride out the storm: a majority of the recorded casualties occurred at sea.

Stacks of hay and corn were widely destroyed, resulting in severe starvation among livestock in the following months.{{cite news |title=The night of the Big Wind |url=https://www.con-telegraph.ie/2018/01/06/the-night-of-the-big-wind/ |work=Connaught Telegraph}}

File:Great Gale plaque on building in Styal, Cheshire, England.jpg, Cheshire noting that it was damaged in the event. Plaque reads: "part of this building was destroyed by the great gale of Jan 1st [sic] 1839"]]

The Night of the Big Wind became part of Irish folk tradition. Irish folklore held that Judgment Day would occur on the Feast of the Epiphany, 6 January. Such a severe storm led many to believe that the end of the world was at hand.{{Cite journal |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Forgotten+Remembrances%3A+The+6+January+%22Women%27s+Christmas%22+%28Nollaig+na+mBan%29+and+the+6+January+1839+%22Night+of+the+Big+Wind%22+%28O%C3%ADche+na+Gaoithe+M%C3%B3ire%29+in+%22The+Dead%22&btnG= |format=PDF |doi=10.1353/jjq.2017.0002 |title=Forgotten Remembrances: The 6 January "Women's Christmas" (Nollaig na mBan) and the 6 January 1839 "Night of the Big Wind" (Oíche na Gaoithe Móire) in "The Dead" |year=2017 |last1=Burke |first1=Mary |journal=James Joyce Quarterly |volume=54 |issue=3–4 |pages=241–274 |s2cid=165329787|url-access=subscription }}

The Old Age Pensions Act 1908 introduced pensions for over-70s, but many Irish Catholics prior to the Registration of Births and Deaths (Ireland) Act 1863 had no birth registration.{{cite web |url=https://www.welfare.ie/en/downloads/GRO-History.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408130710/https://www.welfare.ie/en/downloads/GRO-History.pdf |archive-date=8 April 2014 |title=History of Registration in Ireland |publisher=Department of Social Protection |access-date=6 January 2016 |location=Ireland}} One of the questions used to establish proof of age was whether the applicant remembered the Night of the Big Wind. The question was also used as an aide-memoire for the 1901 census.{{Cite web |last=Hughes |first=Paul |date=2025-01-11 |title='Local history, done well, prevents us drawing wrong conclusions nationwide' |url=https://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/2025/01/11/local-history-done-well-prevents-us-drawing-wrong-conclusions-nationwide/ |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=Westmeath Examiner |language=en-US}}

Irish language poems about the event include "Oíche na Gaoithe Móire" by Micheál de Búrc (c.1800–1881) and "Oíche Nollaig na mBan" by Seán Ó Ríordáin (1916–1977). The latter's title means "Night of Women's Christmas"; Women's Christmas is observed in Ireland on the feast of the Epiphany (6 January). The first verse describes a storm on that date (5 January) while the second recounts the poet's desire that his eventual death should coincide with a similar storm.{{cite journal |last1=Burke |first1=Mary |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Forgotten+Remembrances%3A+The+6+January+%22Women%27s+Christmas%22+%28Nollaig+na+mBan%29+and+the+6+January+1839+%22Night+of+the+Big+Wind%22+%28O%C3%ADche+na+Gaoithe+M%C3%B3ire%29+in+%22The+Dead%22&btnG= |format=PDF |title=Forgotten Remembrances: The 6 January "Women's Christmas" (Nollaig na mBan) and the 6 January 1839 "Night of the Big Wind" (Oíche na Gaoithe Móire) in "The Dead" |journal=James Joyce Quarterly |date=2017 |volume=54 |issue=3–4 |pages=241–274 |doi=10.1353/jjq.2017.0002 |s2cid=165329787|url-access=subscription }}

• List of shipwrecks in January 1839
• List of atmospheric pressure records in Europe
• Braer Storm

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{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |title=The Night of the Big Wind |last=Carr |first=Peter |year=1993 |publisher=White Row Press |location=Belfast |isbn=1-870132-50-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bigwindthestory00carr}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Burke |first1=Mary |title=Forgotten Remembrances: The 6 January "Women's Christmas" (Nollaig na mBan) and the 6 January 1839 "Night of the Big Wind" (Oíche na Gaoithe Móire) in "The Dead" |journal=James Joyce Quarterly |date=2017 |volume=54 |issue=3–4 |pages=241–274 |doi=10.1353/jjq.2017.0002|s2cid=165329787 }}
• {{cite news |last1=Burke |first1=Mary |title=An Irishwoman's Diary on the 'Night of the Big Wind' – January 6th, 1839 |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-irishwoman-s-diary-on-the-night-of-the-big-wind-january-6th-1839-1.2492876 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=12 January 2016 |language=en}}

• [https://www.duchas.ie/ga/tpc/cbes/5286325 Topic: Winds] records from the Irish Folklore Commission, in Irish and English, many relating to the Night of the Big Wind
• [http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACalend/BigWind.html "Oiche na Gaoithe Moire...the night of the big wind" by Bridget Haggerty] Irish Culture and Customs

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Category:1839 natural disasters

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Category:1839 disasters

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Category:1830s disasters in Ireland

Category:Natural disasters in Ireland

Category:European windstorms

Category:Weather events in Ireland

Category:January 1839

Category:1839 meteorology