One of the earliest weather diaries that has come to notice in Ireland, was maintained by Mr. John Kevan at Kilkenny on behalf of the Duke of Ormond. The entries for Jan/Feb 1682 have been preserved in the National Library in Dublin and a segment is shown below.

Unfortunately the diary only recorded non-instrumental observations of the weather in Kilkenny. Nevertheless it is easy to see for example that the entries for the 8th and 9th of Jan. were describing typical winter anticyclonic conditions. i.e.

8th: “A Sunshine day, calm and dry, with great frost the night before.”

9th: “A Sunshine morning, after a thaw of frost, a faire afternoon, a could freezing evening.”