Limerick

We took the opportunity to revisit Limerick last week.  We had stayed there two years ago, but never had the time to really look around the city.  Limerick was one of the towns we had considered moving to before we settled on Athlone.  But it’s further south in the country, the utilities run a bit higher, and it’s the third largest city in Ireland.

Canal

At a point where the Shannon River bends around the city, a canal was cut to connect the two side of the river, thus making an island.  This is Kings Island.  This is where King John’s Castle was built in the 13th century, as well as St. Mary’s Cathedral, dating back to the 12th century.  Back in the early 12th century the Norman’s established Limerick as a Royal City and it became the region for the Royal Mint under King John, Lord of Ireland. (gag)

Over the years, walls were built to incorporate substantial portions of the city as well as their own safe harbor.   As with so many castles in Ireland it had its share of battles, tunnels built and walls crumbled.  Even into the 20th century people still lived within the walls of the castle, but were removed when the city claimed it was a National Monument. There is not much left of the original structures, just a few towers, tunnels and walls.  It’s impressive from the outside, but not so much the inside.

 We visited the Hunt Museum on our walk-about the city.   The museum occupies in the Custom House; built in 1769 as the residence of the tax collector and later the offices of customs officials.  It became the Hunt Museum in 1993.  The museum houses the personal collection of John and Gertrude Hunt.  Each of the of the approximately 2000 pieces were hand selected and from all over the world.  Some pieces date back to the stone age while there were also pieces displayed from local high school students.   The Hunts donated this collection to the people of Ireland with express wishes that the collection remain in Limerick.

 The museum also had a separate exhibit going on – “Contrasting Visions of Ireland”, the art works of Jack B. Yeats and Paul Henry.  Both acclaimed Irish artists and friends who died within months of each other in the late 1950’s.

It's a lovely city around the water, but I thought the city was more inviting and colorful back in July when we visited two years ago, but as we are discovering once the tourist season is over things convert back to their ‘real’ self.


PHOTO ALBUM