Hi Mairead,
Great question, especially considering the wild weather Ireland just got hit with.

As bad as it looks in the media, most people wouldn't be too badly affected by flooding. For those that have though, it must be devastating.

As you've probably noticed, most Irish towns sit right on top of rivers, or near a watershed and there's usually a pretty even mix of businesses and residences. A lot of time these rivers are very high to begin with, so when there's a big storm like the one that just passed, there's only one place for the extra water to go. Also, a lot of the farmland that was affected is very low lying, so when a large river floods it spreads out pretty fast.

I think the problem with one towns flood protection having a negative affect on another town is very likely. I remember seeing similar things in CA with coastal erosion. One town would object to the other building any kind of sea-wall, because they were basically just being passed on the damage.

I'd definitely avoid living right next to any river if you can. You could use Google maps to hone in on various areas you're interested in. Also, if you turn on the 'terrain' feature, you can see what kind of elevation a town is at. If you're not near a river, and you're high up, your chances are good 🙂

Regarding official flood info, check out http://www.floods.ie/ . I checked a town near where I grew up that I know floods a lot, and they have 19 reports with detailed info, going back many years. If it has data like that for all parts of the country, then that site could be very useful when planning where to live.

Thanks Liam! I had forgotten about the "terrain" feature. It's very useful. So is the OPW floods website, as well as the other info you've provided 🙂