The first full moon of the summer season

17:01, 28 Jun 2026Updated 17:08, 28 Jun 2026

A strawberry full moon against the dark sky.(Image: Getty)

It’s great news for avid stargazers as the first full moon of the summer will soon grace the skies above Cork – and it’s set to be a big one.

The ‘Strawberry moon’ will be visible in Irish skies tonight, tomorrow and Tuesday. The unusual name given to the June full moon comes from its association with agriculture, with many kinds of summer fruit, including strawberries, coming into season this month.

So, despite what its name may lead you to believe, the moon won’t have a reddish or pink hue to it, but another interesting lunar phenomenon makes it worth setting some time aside to have a look.

The June full moon is the lowest-hanging full moon of the year, and its low position on the horizon creates a phenomenon known as the ‘moon illusion.’ This unusual positioning makes it appear much larger than it would at other times of the year.

It sitting so close to the horizon can also have an effect on colour, as its light needs to pass through much more of Earth’s atmosphere to reach our eyes, which can sometimes give it an orange hue.

The best time to catch a proper look at the impressive moon is shortly after sunset, which will occur just after 10 pm over the coming days.

Astronomy Ireland has encouraged people to send in photos of the Strawberry Moon, and if there are any snaps taken of it above Leeside in the coming days, we’d love to see them. You can get in touch via news@corkbeo.ie or via our social media channels.

However, securing a good photo will be dependent on the weather, and with mixed conditions today in Cork, it’ll be a bit of a gamble. There’s heavy cloud cover across much of the county, but there’s also been a fair few sunny spells throughout the day, which means there’s likely to be gaps for determined stargazers to get a good look.

For the best view of the moon, it’s recommended that you go somewhere that has as little light pollution as possible. It’s estimated that over 80% of the world’s population lives under a light-polluted sky, with urban areas the worst affected. Thankfully, there’s a map for that.

The lightpollutionmap.info website has an interactive map which shows how light pollution affects your local area and where you can travel to escape the worst of it. You can plan your journey using the map here.

As shown on the map, Cork city and nearby towns like Glanmire, Ballincollig, Carrigaline, and even Cobh are in a light pollution red zone, which will make it more difficult to capture a clear image of the moon.