It might be safe to say that on one of the evenings before this picture of Michael Gallagher was taken that the horizon appeared red at sunset.

Or the blackbird was spotted on the door of the byre or feeding on scraps in the farmyard. Or the robin flew in through the half door of an open kitchen. Or perhaps the fox was heard crying in the distance.

Either way the old traditional weather forecasters would have known with these portents that snow was on its way and all would be white with the world.

The world that dominated Michael’s landscape in his forty years as a postman was the area of Cloghan and the townlands within and around. The folklore he gathered from the folk of the Croaghs and other local districts became an abiding curiosity which grew into a dedicated interest and in turn finally won him the name of someone who didn’t require the broadcasting outlets or the daily newspapers to predict what way the weather was going to shape up.

Next Saturday night in Harkin’s of Brockagh, his new book ‘Tuar na hAimsire - Traditional Weather Signs’ will be launched by Patsy McGonagle, a collection of the gems of wisdom he has uncovered down the decades and how nature and the animals, birds and insects that run around in it can help us forecast whether we’re in for rain, hail or sunshine. Or a heavy overcoat of snow.

In the book, he lists many of the signs that he has, and we should, look out for. “Our feathered friends are more sensitive to those changes of weather and people who study them minutely can foretell changes in the weather conditions,” claims Michael. “The finch, robin, sparrow or wren seen washing and preening their feathers in a pool of water is a sign of fine weather. If Willy Wagtails are seen fluttering about the street or farmyard, heavy rain may be expected. If birds are heard singing at the beginning of January then as far as the weather is concerned, it is not a good sign.”

Those feathered friends include every bird from the cuckoo - if it calls with a sweet clear voice good weather in on the way - to wild geese (if they leave their breeding grounds in the early part of August, it’s a bad sign).

And then there are the animals. For instance, your domestic cat is “very wise” in forecasting the weather. If it sits with its back to the fire, cold weather with frost is scheduled. But if you see your cat washing behind and over her ears with her paw, it’s time to get the mop and buckets out for floods are on the way.

From cats to rats. Such rodents near houses is a sign of a storm approaching and when rats go away from houses, it’s the sign of a hard, dry winter.

And don’t ignore insects when you want to find out in advance what the elements hold. Midges mustering their forces to persecute man and beast comes at the onset of rain and did you know that the sting of a flying ant is not alone painful but also means rain is close at hand.