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