The following extract shows one man’s view of Limerick in 1862. This section of text was included in the publication “Recollections of an Irish Police Magistrate” by Henry Robert Addison, formerly of the 2nd Dragoon Guards. The publication tells of the heroic and bizarre stories involving Major Thomas Phillips Vokes, a police magistrate in Limerick….
The following is an extract from the 1852 publication Three days on the Shannon: from Limerick to Lough Key By William Frederick Wakeman. THE START. We shall suppose our reader to have arrived in Limerick en route to the capital, after having visited some of the romantic and charming scenery which has rendered Clare, and…
The following description of Limerick by Thomas W. Silloway and Lee L. Powers was first published in 1883. The pair travelled through Ireland to create a tour guide called “The Cathedral Towns and Intervening Places of England, Ireland, and Scotland: A Description of cities cathedrals, lakes, mountains, ruins and watering-places.” for potential visitors to the…
The following videos owned by Liam O’Sullivan show snapshots of life as a student in St Munchin’s College. The videos were uploaded by John Upton who has gathered many wonderful videos of Limerick’s past, with a focus on Newcastle West https://www.youtube.com/user/jdtvideo/videos This first video shows the old St Munchin’s College in Henry Street and the…
The role of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland established in 1690 and was abolished in 1922. He was considered the representative of the King in Ireland. Officially, Lords Lieutenant were appointed for no set term but in practice they were usually replaced as each British Government ministry fell. A number of these men visited Limerick and…
The first new church built on the grid of the Newtownpery was St George’s Church. The church was opened in June 1789 on what was then George’s Street, on the corner of Mallow Street. The doors to St George’s Church, Limerick, closed for the final time in October 1836. The closure happened due to the ever…
On January 3, 1837, a gunpowder rocked the city centre to its core. In total twenty people lost their lives, one of whom the Chronicle recorded as “died of the absolute effects of fright”. The city was quiet on winter’s night with most of the inhabitants either in bed or on their way to bed…
Quinlan Street, located between the Crescent and O’Connell Avenue, is one of the shortest streets in the city. It is also one of the shortest main streets in Ireland, having a length at its centre of eighty-five feet. Containing only seven buildings with two building on the corner with Barrington Street and five on the…
Henry Fox-Strangways, Lord Stavordale (1747-1802) the heir of the first Earl of Ilchester’s arrived in Limerick as a young solider. While in the city he attended a hunt ball, at this ball Miss Mary Theresa O’Grady made her debut in Society. Lord Stavordale at once became an admirer of the lovely Irish girl, and the…
Thomas Street is in the heart of the Newtown Pery development of Edmund Sexton Pery (1719-1806) and his plan for the development of a new town on lands he owned in the south liberties of the city. The town was built in stages as Pery sold off leases to builders and developers who built 4…
For centuries farm animal were a common sight on the streets of Limerick. Whether it was pigs on their way to the many bacon factories. Chickens making their way to the street from back gardens or sheep and cattle on their way to the markets. On August 20, 1918 there was one such market even…
This stunning picture which was taken for us by Donal Stundon, shows King’s Island in its entirety. You can see quite clearly how small the old Englishtown was and how separate St Mary’s Park is from the city. The island is circled by both the Shannon and Abbey rivers and the flood plains are a…
The following seven stunning pictures showing Limerick City from the sky all come courtesy of and with many thanks to Donal Stundon. 1. St John’s Cathedral The Cathedral of St John the Baptist is the present day Cathedral in Limerick City was built in 1856. Its famous spire was not started for another 17 years….
In the 1980s the OPW restored the humble cottage on the outskirts of the village of Bruree in County Limerick. This cottage was the home of Éamon de Valera the future President of Ireland who held that office from 1959 until 1973. Éamon de Valera was born Edward de Valera in New York, America on…
As Limerick expanded into the Newtownpery area of the the city in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century new streets were names. These new builds incorporated street signs into the buildings often on the corners but occasionally, as with Baker’s Place, in the centre of purpose built blocks. The following are a collection of…