Limerick, Ireland
King John's Castle, 14th Century
The city was established by the Vikings as a walled city on "King's Island", an island in the River Shannon. Later during English rule, this area became known as "English Town", while another settlement, named "Irish Town" grew on the south bank of the river. In 1691 the Treaty of Limerick was signed, following the Siege of Limerick. This signalled an end to hostilities between the then King James II of England and William of Orange, who had been fighting an English civil war on Irish soil (see Battle of the Boyne).
Much Georgian architecture was evident in the city from about the 1800s onwards. Although some has since been demolished, much of the city centre area is built in the Georgian fashion. Other architectural buildings of note in the city are King John's Castle, St. Mary's Cathedral and St. John's Cathedral. St. Mary's Cathedral, at over 800 years old, is one of the oldest in Ireland. St. John's Cathedral, whilst more modern, has one of the tallest steeples.
One of Ireland's most celebrated museums, the Hunt Museum is based in the historic 18th-century former Custom House. The museum was established to house an internationally important collection of approximately 2000 works of art and antiquities formed by John and Gertrude Hunt during their lifetimes. On display are the 9th century Antrim Cross, a sketch by Picasso and a bronze sculpture of a horse, said to be from a design by Leonardo da Vinci.
Much of Limerick's architectural heritage has been compromised. The main streets in the city centre were originally fronted by mostly uniform Georgian townhouses. Nowadays significant gaps and oddities (out of place modern buildings) may be found, in addition to the dilapidated state of some buildings. The most recent example of a controversial demolishment was the Cruises Hotel. This was the oldest hotel in Limerick; Daniel O'Connell himself stayed in it. It was demolished in or around 1990 to allow Cruises Street pedestrian area. Sadly, the site of what was this illustrious building is now home to a McDonald's and HMV music store on either corner of the street entrance.
Other areas of the city have similar tragic tales. Since the late 1990s, Ireland has had somewhat tougher development requirements. This has resulted in an increasing number of Georgian and other historical buildings being refurbished rather than demolished. Shining examples include the conversion of an historic bank to an up-market pub, also the conversion of old stone-built warehouses and Georgian townhouses to up-market apartments. The latter even included original design window railings and street railings, with detail down to the brass catches on the sash windows! Ironically however, the tougher development requirements have resulted in tracts of wasteland on King's Island remaining undeveloped due the discovery of historical remains of demolished structures.
Limerick is a University town. The University of Limerick, which is situated about 5km east of the city center in the town of Castletroy is an internationally renowned center for Engineering, Information Technology, Materials Science, Sports Science, Humanities and Social Sciences and Music (the Irish World Music Centre specialises in traditional music and dance, and UL is host to the Irish Chamber Orchestra). It has a student population of over 12,000. Limerick Institute of Technology is based about 3km north-west of the city centre. Mary Immaculate College, linked to the city's university, is an education and arts college situated near the city centre.
Lyric FM, a state-run classical music radio station and part of RTE is broadcast nationally from studios in the city centre. Limerick's local radio station is Live 95FM, broadcasting from 'Radio House', near the waterfront at Steamboat Quay.
Limerick is at the heart of the region dubbed "the Midwest". Also known as the "Shannon Region", this is primarily an economic and social concept. The region encompasses County Limerick, County Clare, North County Tipperary and Northwest County Kerry. The area is possibly the main economic region outside of Dublin. Its economic success has been driven in part by the University of Limerick, Shannon Airport in Co. Clare and Shannon Development (an economic development agency). Many multi-national companies are based in Limerick and Shannon Town, such as Dell Computers, who have their European Manufacturing Facility in Limerick. Analog Devices have their European manufacturing base in Raheen industrial estate, 3km south-west of the city centre. The site employs more than 3,000 people.
WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: Lat: 52.6652 Lon: -008.6238History
Architectural Features
Architecture Lost and Found
Amenities and Industry