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Mr. Kinahan’s Auroric Lights. White and red. White light appears in pencils radiating from a point.

Mr. G. Henry Kinahan writes to ‘Nature,’ from Ovoca, under date January 27th, 1877, and speaks of two distinct kinds of light so classed—one brilliant and transparent, of a white yellowish-blue or yellowish-red colour, while the other is semi-opaque and of a bloody red colour, the latter being considered in Ireland a forerunner of bad weather. The first kind generally appears as intermittent pencils of light that suddenly appear and disappear.

Frequently not stationary, but jumping about.

Usually they proceed or radiate from some point near the north of the horizon; but Mr. Kinahan has frequently seen them break from a point in the heavens, not stationary, but jumping about within certain limits. Sometimes these lights occur as suddenly flashing clouds of light of a white colour, but at other times of blue and reddish yellow.

In daylight like sun-rays. Red light appears in clouds floating upwards or diffused.

If this class of lights is watched into daylight, they appear somewhat like faint rays of a rising sun. One morning, while travelling in West Galway in the twilight, they were very brilliant, and quite frightened Mr. Kinahan’s car-driver, who thought the sun was going to rise in the north instead of the east. The second, or bloody red light, usually occurs in clouds floating in one direction up into the heavens, but often diffused over a portion of the sky. Mr. Kinahan has never seen them coming from the east, and on only a few occasions from the south, but generally from the west, north-west, or north.

Red light appears as dirty misty clouds in daylight, or as a mist or misty rays.

If both kinds of light appear at the same time, the second while passing over the first dims it. If the second class is watched into daylight, they appear as dirty misty clouds that suddenly form and disappear without the spectator being able to say where they come from or where they go to, or as a hazy mist over a portion of the sky, that suddenly appears and disappears, or as misty rays proceeding from a point in the horizon. Generally, when these clouds occur, there is a bank of black clouds to the westward.

Season since October 1876 prolific in auroric light.

Mr. Kinahan then speaks of the season as having been prolific in auroric light, as there had been few nights since the 1st October then last (1876) in which they did not appear. On many occasions they were late in the night, being very common and brilliant during the dark days of December, a few hours before dawn (about 5 o’clock). Each time there was a fine day they appeared also, and the weather broke again.