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 link to the street on the 1911 census has been added.
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 :
Factory Lane: Located in the St. Munchin’s Parish. Factory Lane no longer exists.
Farranshone Road : Located off the Ennis Road.
Fish Lane (Little): probably named as it led to Fish Gate, and also to the Fish House which was located near Fish Gate, in Englishtown.
Fisher’s Quay: A portion of Harvey’s Quay, constructed by James Fisher.
Fitzgerald Cottages, Lane, Place: is named after Lord Edward Fitzgerald (1763-1798) 5th son of the 1st Duke of Leinster and twentieth Earl of Kildare. He was Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the United Irishmen. Lord Edward Street is also named after him.
Flag Lane (part 2) (part 3): There were 3 Flag Lanes in the city.
Flankerhouse: Located in the townsland of Ballinacurra.
Flood Street: named after Joseph Mary Flood, a popular District Justice and local Historian, who was made a Freeman of Limerick in 1948.
Fogerty’s Range: (aka Theatre Lane) Located off Lower Mallow Street, Fogerty’s Range is named after Joseph Fogerty who built a theatre between this lane and Henry Street in 1841.
Forker’s Lane : located off John’s Street
Fox’s Bow: (aka Foxes Bow, formerly William Street Bow) The name came from Fox’s Hotel, which extended over the lane to form a Bow exiting onto Thomas Street. It was also known as Tucker’s Bow, Homan’s Bow and Meehan’s Bow.
Francis Street: named after Francis Arthur, a member of the famous Limerick family. He built the houses on this street around 1796.
Franklins Quay – now known as Verdant Place, off Thomond Bridge.
Frederick Street (now O’Curry Street), Frederick Place, Little Frederick Street : According to a theory by Dr. Matthew Potter, these streets were named after the son of George III, Prince Frederick, who is better known by the nursery rhyme “The Grand Old Duke of York”.
Funeral Road: This was a small boreen off Lower Park Road and was so named because the funerals of people who lived to the north of this road travelled to St. Patrick’s Church via Corbally Road, and the funerals of people who lived to the south of this road travelled to St. Patrick’s Church via Park Bridge and Park Road.