Sun Path: Galway, Ireland

Direct answer

For Galway at 53.2724, -9.0510, the declination-only solar-noon altitude is approximately 60.2° at the June solstice, 36.7° at an equinox and 13.3° at the December solstice. Refine these geometry checks with the project date, civil time, facade azimuth, terrain and local horizon. The reproducible location record is GeoNames ID 2964180 in administrative area C, at 53.2724, -9.0510; replace it with the surveyed parcel point before relying on the result. As a transparent geometry check, declination-only solar-noon altitude is about 60.2° at the June solstice, 36.7° at an equinox and 13.3° at the December solstice. Representative 21st-day geometry ranges from about 7.3 hours in December to 16.7 hours in June; this excludes atmospheric refraction, terrain and obstruction effects. The cited national authority is a discovery starting point; current local documents and a named qualified reviewer control project use of this sun path record.

Prepared by Harth · Prepared from the cited location and country sources; local project inputs remain unreviewed · Published 2026-08-26 · Updated 2026-08-31.

What must be verified for Galway?

Galway is represented here at approximately 53.2724, -9.0510 for discovery and workflow planning. A project address, parcel, elevation, exposure, authority, and submission date must replace that city-centre reference before design use.

How should sun path be established?

1. Fix the surveyed site and local time basis.
2. Select an authoritative weather source or a named solar-position algorithm.
3. Record period, percentile or scenario and units.
4. Test sensitivity to elevation, exposure, urban form and horizon.
5. Save the source file, retrieval date and checker in the model record.

What are the limits of this worksheet?

This sun-path-workflow page is a project-starting worksheet, not a design value or approval. The controlling authority and qualified professionals for the Galway site remain authoritative.

Galway monthly solar geometry check for sun path

Galway solar-geometry fingerprint at 53.2724, -9.0510

• Galway, 21 January: declination -20.14°, noon altitude 16.59°, zenith 73.41°, geometric daylight 8.075 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 3.357.
• Galway, 21 February: declination -11.23°, noon altitude 25.50°, zenith 64.50°, geometric daylight 9.943 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 2.096.
• Galway, 21 March: declination -0.40°, noon altitude 36.32°, zenith 53.68°, geometric daylight 11.928 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 1.360.
• Galway, 21 April: declination +11.58°, noon altitude 48.31°, zenith 41.69°, geometric daylight 14.125 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.891.
• Galway, 21 May: declination +20.14°, noon altitude 56.87°, zenith 33.13°, geometric daylight 15.925 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.653.
• Galway, 21 June: declination +23.45°, noon altitude 60.18°, zenith 29.82°, geometric daylight 16.740 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.573.
• Galway, 21 July: declination +20.44°, noon altitude 57.17°, zenith 32.83°, geometric daylight 15.996 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.645.
• Galway, 21 August: declination +11.75°, noon altitude 48.48°, zenith 41.52°, geometric daylight 14.159 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.885.
• Galway, 21 September: declination -0.20°, noon altitude 36.53°, zenith 53.47°, geometric daylight 11.964 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 1.350.
• Galway, 21 October: declination -11.75°, noon altitude 24.97°, zenith 65.03°, geometric daylight 9.841 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 2.147.
• Galway, 21 November: declination -20.44°, noon altitude 16.29°, zenith 73.71°, geometric daylight 8.004 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 3.423.
• Galway, 21 December: declination -23.45°, noon altitude 13.28°, zenith 76.72°, geometric daylight 7.260 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 4.238.

Harth computed the Galway fingerprint for latitude 53.2724° with the Cooper declination approximation, 90° - |latitude - declination| at solar noon, centre-to-centre sunrise hour angle and 1 / tan(altitude) shadow ratio. Longitude -9.0510° is retained for a later civil-time conversion; this screen does not perform that conversion. See NOAA's solar calculation details. Atmospheric refraction, terrain, facade azimuth and obstructions remain outside this first-pass comparison.

Where can you explore related guidance?

• Explore all solar data guidance
• Sun Path: Ennis, Ireland
• Sun Path: Limerick, Ireland
• Sun Path: Castletroy, Ireland
• Sun Path: Athlone, Ireland
• All solar & daylight data guidance for Ireland
• Climate Design Data: Galway, Ireland

Sources and method

Location data from the GeoNames IE dump (CC BY 4.0, snapshot 2026-08-31, GeoNames ID 2964180). Regulatory starting point: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the local building-control authority. Figures are illustrative — verify against the current locally adopted edition for the site. Solar-method context: NOAA Solar Calculation Details; the Harth monthly table uses a simpler declination and geometric-daylight approximation whose stated limitations must be retained.

Source links

• download.geonames.org

• gov.ie

• gml.noaa.gov