The following are some of the famous visitors who visited Limerick over the centuries. If there are any missing please leave a comment below.
Visitor: Hermann von Puckler-Maskau (Prussian socialite who came in search of a rich wife)
Visited: 1828
View of City: Limerick is “the kind of city I like, old and venerable, adorned with Gothic churches and moss-covered ruins, with dark narrow streets, and curious houses of various date; a broad river flowing through its whole length and crossed by several antique bridges, lastly, a busy market-place and cheerful environs.”
Visitor: William Wordsworth (Poet)
Visitor: 1829
View of City: “It is raining hard now, and has done so all day”
Visitor: Catherine McAuley (Founder of the Sisters of Mercy)
Visited: 1838
View of City: “The house is surrounded by trees and walking ground, and all enclosed by fine old walls entirely lined with ivy.”
Visitor: Franz Liszt (Composer)
Visited: 1841
View of City: Stayed at Cruise’s Hotel and performed two Grand Concert.
Visitor: Frederick Douglass (former American Slave turned abolitionist)
Visited: 1845
Visitor: Thomas Carlyle (Writer)
Visited: 1849
View of City: “Wet chief street of Limerick, glimpse of harbour, with poor turf-craft, mainly thro’ an opening on the other side”
Visitor: Charles Dickens (Writer)
Visited: 1858
View of City: “This is the oddest place – of which nobody in any other part of Ireland seems to know anything”
Visitor: P. T. Barnum & General Tom Thumb (Entertainers)
Visited: 1859
View of City: Performed in the Atheanaeum Limerick.
Visitor: Eamon De Valera (President)
Visited: Multiple times
View of City:” I had a grand journey to Limerick by train. Of course I was dolled up before starting out! One of the problems was the boots: apparently they didn’t pass muster. A solution was found – they found that my aunt’s button boots would fit me”
Visitor: Zigfried Sassoon (war poet)
Visited: 1918
Visitor: Robert Graves (Poet)
Visited: 1919
View of the City: “Limerick was a Sinn Fein stronghold, and there were constant clashes between the troops and young men of the town, yet little ill-feeling”
Visitor: John Gibbons (Writer)
Visited: 1935
View of the City: “Limerick is the most ‘priestly’ city that I have yet met in my travels – and I know Rome”
Visitor: Sean O’Faolain (Writer)
Visited: 1940
View of the City: “There is a dignity in Limerick, a place bearing vestiges of history, marching and counter-marching, worn smooth by being in the track of the history of Europe for its little space”
Visitor: Rock Hudson & Barbara Rush (actor)
Visited: 1954
Visitor: John Fitzgerald Kennedy (President USA)
Visited: 1963
Visitor: Ted Kennedy (Politician USA)
Visited: 1964
Visitor: Richard Nixon (President USA)
Visited: 1970
Visitor: Roy Orbinson (Musician)
Visited: 1970
Visitor: Dick Emery (Comedian)
Visited: 1977
Visitor: Eric Clapton (Musician)
Visited: 1979
Visitor: Pope John Paul II
Visited: 1979
Visitor: Bill Clinton (President USA)
Visited: 1998 & 2012
Visitor: Mike Tyson (Boxer)
Visited: 2012
Visitor: Billy Connelly (Comedian)
Visited: 2013