Bíodh sé ag léim ar bhus nó isteach i dtacsaí ar do bhealach go himeacht spóirt, casann an chaint go minic faoi láthair ar an 'aimsir aisteach'. Luann daoine téamh domhanda agus mar atá na séasúr measctha trína chéile - gach seans go bhfuil cúis leis.
But in Gaelic tradition, this sense of seasonal unpredictability is nothing new—April has long been known as a month of contrasts. It was always understood to bring a mix of warmth and harshness, full of surprises and sudden changes.
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One fascinating example is the phenomenon known as Garbhshíon na gCuach—literally, "the cuckoo’s rough weather." This term referred to a brief spell of harsh weather occurring between late April and early May, which coincided with the cuckoo’s arrival in Ireland. In Clonbur, Co. Galway, this cold snap was considered a sign of summer approaching:
"Tá trí lá i ndeireadh an Aibreáin agus tugtar trí lá gairbhín na gcuach orthu mar tagann ceathanna sneachta thart ar an am a dtagann an 'chuach’."
"There are three days at the end of April that are known as ‘Garbhshíon na gCuach’ when snow showers fall around the same time the cuckoo appears."
In Munster, the same weather was called Scairbhín na gCuach, and it was a frequent theme in both poetry and art. In Ulster—especially in counties Antrim and Down—it was known as the "cuckoo storm" or "gowk storm," with gowk being the Scots word for cuckoo.
Nineteenth-century folklorist and naturalist William Hugh Patterson (1835–1918) described the "gowk storm" like this:
"The peasantry look forward with the greatest interest every spring for what they call the gowk (cuckoo) storm, that takes place about the end of April or the beginning of May, when the note of this bird is heard. This storm, which is from the east, casts on the beach vast quantities of sea-wreck, which is used as manure for their potatoes."
Numerous folk beliefs and pishogues surrounded the arrival of the cuckoo and the moment its call was first heard. In Uíbh Ráthach (Iveragh) in the Kerry Gaeltacht, people said:
"Deirtear má chloiseann duine an chuach ina chluais dheis go mbeidh an t-ádh leis i rith na bliana, ach má chloiseann sé ina chluais chlé í ná raghaidh aon ní chun cinn dó agus go mbeidh an uile shaghas mí-ádh agus ainnise á leanúint i rith na bliana ar fad."
"Ach má bhíonn sé de mhí-ádh ar dhuine an chuach a labhairt ina cúl, bíodh súil aige lena bhás, nó bás duine gaolmhar dó, nó bíonn súil aige ar thrioblóid éigin eile a bheith chuige… Deintear rud eile fós nuair a cloistear an chuach an chéad uair, sé sin airgead d’fháil, dá mbeadh sé agat agus bheith á chaitheamh ó láimh go láimh an fhaid is bheadh sí ag labhairt."
"An té a dhéanfadh é seo ar chlos na cuaiche dó ar dtúis gach bliain, ní bheadh ceal airgid air go deireadh na bliana."
"…if someone hears the cuckoo in their right ear, they’ll be lucky that year but if they hear it in their left ear, nothing they attempt will succeed, and misfortune and hardship will follow them all year long."
Níos measa fós, má chloiseann duine an cuach ag glaoch taobh thiar díobha, comhartha báis atá ann - an bás acu féin, bás gaol ghairid nó anachain trom eile. Traidisiúin eile a luaitear leis an gcéad glaoch ón gcuach ná, má scaipeann tú airgead ó lámh go lámh agus an cuach ag glaoch, nach mbeidh aon easpa saibhris ort don chuid eile den bhliain."
