‘Newsbeat’ pays a visit to Lahinch Golf Club in in County Clare, where for a number of years members have been using two friendly goats as reliable weather vanes.
According to long-standing club member Joseph Ryan and assistant pro Robery McCavery, the goats are infallible weather forecasters.
Members here need the goats to tell them when it’s going to rain.
If the goats are near the clubhouse, it is going to rain. If they are out in the countryside, the weather will be fine. The goats are infallible and their ability to forecast the weather has yet to be proven wrong.
The clubhouse is in possession of a barometer, but when it broke there was no enthusiasm to fix it. When questioned further on this matter Joseph Ryan says
Well when you come in here, and you’re ready to hit off from the first tee, it’s not the barometer you’re looking at, tis the goats.
A ‘Newsbeat’ report by Cathal O’Shannon broadcast on 17 February 1971.