Why Visit Ireland in April?

In Ireland, Mother Nature creates her own bouquets, and flowers are in vivid abundance.

April brings bright, new leaves sprouting, filling out Ireland’s impressive green forests and parks. If you choose to visit Ireland in spring, you’ll get the chance to experience Irish flowers at their very best during springtime.

In April, Irish wildflowers and manicured gardens are blooming, blanketing the ground in vibrant colours. For a few weeks each spring, the forest floors are covered in a stunning carpet of bright bluebells and the white blooms of wild garlic.

The spring season sees old stone walls become home to wildflowers of all kinds, such as primroses, bluebells, wood sorrel, cowslip, orchids, violets, and more. And that’s just in the wild. The gardens of Ireland’s grand manors explode in even more types of blooms.

Spring Flowers in the Burren

One of the best places to see Irish wildflowers would be in the Burren National Park located in Co Clare on Ireland’s west coast, and home to some of Ireland’s most unique geology.

This exposed limestone landscape erupts in a quilt of colour. Flowers native to the Arctic down to the Mediterranean grow and sprout from the cracks in the craggy landscape, making the Burren an incredibly diverse place for wildflowers.

Spring months from April onwards are a great time to experience this unique and stunning landscape.

Learn more about the Burren National Park in our essential guide. 

Spring Lambs

Ireland is known as a rural and agricultural country. Indeed, most of Ireland’s most amazing and sought-after destinations are in the countryside. Rural Ireland is also a place known for plentiful sheep and cows.

April is a great time to visit because spring is lambing season. Sheep and lambs are pretty adorable, and the fields will be full of bouncing fluffy lambs. That’s not all though – in other fields, you’ll find equally adorable calves.

Of course, lambs and calves aren’t the only baby animals in spring. The island is buzzing with life as all of the little critters come out of hiding. From baby seals to returning migrating birds, there’s no better time to explore the natural beauty of Ireland to meet the island’s wildlife than in April.

Find the best wildlife spots in Ireland here. 

Puffins in Ireland

Who doesn’t love the puffin? These adorable, slightly goofy birds are one of Ireland’s most beloved creatures.

The best time to see puffins is also spring and early summer. From April, puffins begin arriving on Ireland’s shores to breed. Due to their isolated nature and coastal regions, islands often serve as bird havens.

Spot these amazing birds in a place like the Skellig Islands in Kerry, Wexford’s Saltee Islands or Northern Ireland’s Rathlin Island.

Learn all about puffins here.

Ireland is known for its stunning and frequent rainbows. While this may seem like an exaggeration, this isn’t just a stereotype – we have do get a lot of rainbows.

Ireland gets all of the necessary ingredients required to create rainbows: plenty of rain and low pressure. Consequently, mixed them together and you’ll end up with a seemingly endless supply of rainbows. While we don’t get rainbows every day, they are actually pretty common, and your chances of getting that stunning rainbow pic are fairly good.

Spring is a particularly good time to spot rainbows as the two required elements – rain and low pressure – are most common in transition seasons.

Read more about Irish rainbows here.