Listed below are the most likely reasons behind each street name in the city, though some of the street names have changed through time and some of the original reasoning for certain names have been lost entirely. Many of these street names did not appear in Gerry Joyce’s ‘Limerick City Street Names‘.
Where possible, a photograph of the street has been added as well as a link to the street in the 1911 census.
Streets beginning with:
A : B : C : D : E : F : G : H : I : J : K : L : M : N : O : P : Q : R : S : T : U : V : W : X : Y : Z :
Eden Terrace: The twelve houses in Eden Terrace were built in 1864. They were designed by Limerick architect William Fogarty (1833-1878) for ThomasRemington, owner of the Limerick Warehouse Company. Thomas Revington built and lived in Ardhu House, part of the former Limerick Ryan Hotel, which closed its doors in 2003.
Edward Street (part 2) AKA Lord Edward Street: formally, Prospect Row is named after Lord Edward Fitzgerald (1763-1798). Fitzgerald was the fifth son of the 1st Duke of Leinster and 20th Earl of Kildare. He was Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the United Irishmen. Fitzgerald’s Cottages is also named after him.
Emly Street AKA Emily Place AKA Gaol Lane: Located between Mary Street and Sheep Street on King’s Island. A former gaol once stood on this street.
Emmet Place: Located off St Joseph’s Street. This street is named after Robert Emmet, the Irish Patriot who was born in Dublin in 1778. After a failed rebellion he led against the British failed, he was imprisoned in Kilmainham gaol, Dublin. On 20 September 1803, Robert Emmet was hanged and beheaded by Executioner Thomas Galvin in Thomas Street, in front of St. Catherine’s Church, before a crowd of up to 45,000 people.
Ellen Street: named after Ellen Arthur, a member of the famous Limerick family. Photograph of Ellen Street. Ellen Arthur was buried in the old St Michael’s graveyard off Michael Street.
Ennis Road: (also known as Lansdowne Road) its name comes from the fact that after the construction of the Wellesley Bridge (now Sarsfield Bridge), this road became the main thoroughfare from Limerick to Ennis. Old Limerick pictures name this road as Lansdowne Road, after The Marquis of Lansdowne, who was the principal property owner in the area.
Erson’s Lane: this lane connecting Anne Street and Catherine Street, named after William Erson, a corn merchant in Anne Street. The Erson’s were there from at least 1824 when William Erson Senior., a native of Galway, died there at his son’s house.
Exchange Street (formerly Exchange Lane) gets its name from the Old Exchange building, which has now been incorporated into St. Mary’s Cathedral grounds. The street is off Nicholas Street across from the Exchange wall. The Exchange was originally built as a City Hall, and the Corporation held their meetings there over a period of two hundred years. The facade of this building can still be seen fronting Nicholas Street. Photograph of Exchange Street.
