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Seeing Red
No, the mysterious glow over Dublin Airport last night was not the Northern Lights
It did assist in the growth of a lot of strawberries though.
NO NEED FOR a red alert — the mysterious, reddish-pink glow which appeared in the night sky over Dublin Airport yesterday was not the Northern Lights.
The sight was nothing more than greenhouse lamps used by Keelings to grow strawberries in Swords. The Aurora Berryalis, if you will.
A photo of the glow was shared to Reddit last night, with the user asking: “What’s this light in the sky? It’s been there since 18:45 and it’s currently 20:23.”
@CarlowWeather Keelings at it again? Taken from Donabate in the direction of the airport. Too cloudy for Aurora pic.twitter.com/tQ8fI7dGFe
— Sarah Kearney (@sarahkearney99) October 9, 2025
In the picture, the reddish-pink glow could be seen illuminating the bottom of the clouds over north Dublin yesterday.
Similar questions were raised last year when the lights were spotted close to Dublin Airport.
But according to Alan Reilly of Carlow Weather, there was no celestial spectacle involved.
“The Northern Lights do appear over Dublin sometimes, we’ve had a few good displays over the last two years when you would see them,” Reilly said.
“The thing is, they wouldn’t look like that, and they wouldn’t be underneath the clouds,” he explained.
He added that he had received numerous calls and messages about the lights.
“It’s only really on a cloudy night that people send me those pictures of Keelings reporting they saw the Northern Lights. You would get Northern Lights in Dublin with a camera on a good day, but to see it with your naked eye, and for it to be that bright? No.”
Have you noticed this red glow in the sky over Dublin Airport recently?🤔
— Shauns_Aviation🇮🇪✈️ (@Shauns_Aviation) November 9, 2024
No, unfortunately you didn’t catch the Northern Lights. The light is actually coming from the Keelings farm at the Northwestern side of the airfield!
The light is used to help Strawberries grow, when… pic.twitter.com/yUIU7gnfOA
The lights are a regular occurrence over Keelings, located just north of the airport near Kilbrook.
In 2009, Keelings built a 50,000 square metre glasshouse on its farm at their north Dublin site, allowing it to produce over 100 million Irish strawberries each year.
Strawberries remain the main crop, though they also grow blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, with around 200 million berries total produced each year.
The pink light seen by Dublin onlookers yesterday is specifically used to boost the growth of strawberries.
Keelings has been asked for comment.
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