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County Limerick

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County Limerick
Area: 2,686 km²
Capital: Limerick
Code: LK
Population: 175,304 (2002)
Province: Munster

Limerick or Luimneach in Irish is an Irish county in the province of Munster, located in the Mid-west of Ireland with County Clare to the north, County Cork to the south, County Kerry to the west and County Tipperary to the west. The River Shannon flows through Limerick city and into the Atlantic Ocean. Below the city, the waterway is known as the Shannon Estuary. Because the estuary is shallow, the county's most important port is several kilometres west of Limerick city, at Foynes.

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Limerick County Crest

Limerick city is home to the University of Limerick (UL), originally a purely technical college, well regarded in this field internationally, and also Limerick Institue of Technology (LIT). Limerick is served by Shannon International Airport, Shannon Town in neighbouring County Clare.

Newcastlewest is the most important county town outside of Limerick city. Other towns mainly lie along the Limerick - Tralee roads (N69,N20) and Limerick - Cork road (N21).

Geography

County Limerick (Contae Luimnigh in Irish) is the green heartland of Munster. It's Irish name Luimneach (The flat area) certainly makes sense when compared with the rest of the province. Especially in the east, the land consist mostly of a fertile limestone plain, which is ringed by mountains on its borders; The Slieve Felims,The Galtees (Na Gaibhlte) and the Ballyhouras. However it would be wrong to say that Limerick is a monotonous plain, for the county is dotted with hills and ridges. Towards the West, the aptly named Mullaghareirk Mountains("Mullach na Radhairc" in Irish, roughly meaning Mountains of the View) push across the county offering dramatic views east over Co. Limerick and west into Co. Kerry.

Volcanic rock is to be found in numerous areas in Co. Limerick, at Carrigogunnell, at Knockfierna, and principally at Pallasgreen/Kilteely in the East, which has been described as the most compact and for its size one of the most varied and complete Carboniferous Volcanic districts in either Britain and Ireland.

Limerick is drained principally by the Rivers Mulkear, Maigue, Deale and the Feale, which are all tributarys of the River Shannon. The Shannon Estuary forms the northern boundary of the county, giving Limerick a navigable outlet to the sea, the principle ports being Limerick City and Foynes

See also : Geography of Ireland

History

It is thought that man had established himself in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC. The arrival of the Celts around 400 BC brought about the division of the county into petty kingdoms or tuath.

Christianity came to Limerick in the 5th Century, and resulted in the establishment of important monasteries in Limerick, at Ardpatrick, Mungret and Kileedy. From this golden age in Ireland of learning and art (5th - 9th Centuries) comes one of Ireland's greatest artefacts, The Ardagh Chalice, a masterpiece of metalwork, which was found in a west Limerick fort in 1868.

The arrival of the Vikings in the 9th century brought about the establishment of Limerick City on an island on the River Shannon in 922. The death of Donal Mór O'Brien, King of Munster in 1194 resulted in the invading Normans taking control of Limerick, and in 1210, the County of Limerick was formally established. Over time, the Normans became "more Irish than the Irish themselves" as the saying goes. The Tudors in England wanted to curb the power of these Gaelicized Norman Rulers, and centralize all power in their hands, so the established colonies of English in the county. This caused the leading Limerick Normans, The Geraldines to revolt against English Rule in 1571. This sparked a savage war in Munster, during which the province was laid to waste, and the confiscation of the vast estates of the Geraldines.

The county was to be further ravaged by war over the next century. The invasion of the forces of Oliver Cromwell in the 1650s included a twelve month siege of Limerick City by Cromwell. The city finally surrendered in October 1651. During the Jacobite-Williamite War (1689-1691) the city was to endure two further sieges, one in 1690 and another in 1691. It was during the 1690 siege that the infamous destruction of the Williamite guns at Ballyneety, near Pallasgreen was carried out by the heroic defender of Limerick, General Patrick Sarsfield The Catholic Irish, comprising the vast majority of the population, had eagerly supported the Jacobite cause, however, the second siege of Limerick resulted in a defeat to the Williamites. Sarsfield managed to force the Williamites to sign the Treaty of Limerick, the terms of which were satisfactory to the Irish. However the Treaty was subsequently dishonoured by the English and Limerick became known as the City of the Broken Treaty.

The 18th and 19th centuries saw a long period of persecution against the Catholic majority, many of who lived in poverty. The Great Famine of of the 1840s set in motion mass emigration and a huge decline in Irish as a spoken language in the county. This began to change around the beginning of the 20th century, as changes in law from the English Government enabled the farmers of the county to purchase lands they had previously only held as tenants, paying high rent to English Landlords.

Limerick saw much fighting during the War of Independence of 1919 to 1921 particulary in the East of the County. The subsequent Civil War saw bitter fighting between the newly established Irish Free State soldiers and IRA "Irregulars", especially in Limerick City. However Limerick, and indeed all of Ireland has overcome the lows of the Civil War to become the prosperous place it is today.

See also: History of Limerick

Sport

Limerick is widely regarded to be the Irish home of Rugby which is very popular in the county, but is mostly focused around Limerick City, which boasts many of Ireland's most celebrated All-Ireland League teams; Garryowen, Shannon, Old Crescent, Young Munster....etc. Limerick's Thomond Park is the home of the Munster Rugby team, who enjoy enthusiastic and often fanatical support throughout the county.

In the county however, it is undoubtedly the GAA which has the upperhand. Hurling in particular is strong in East Limerick. The Limerick County Hurling Team, who play in the county colours of green and white have won the coveted All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship seven times, although despite good performances, their most recent success was in 1973.

The other GAA sport of Gaelic football is more popular in West Limerick. However, the county has not been so successful in theAll-Ireland Senior Football Championship last winning the Sam Maguire Trophy in 1896. However after many years of being the minnows of football, the Limerick footballers have seen a reversal of fortunes in recent years, and have been enjoying some good results of late.

The city also boasts one of Ireland's two 50m swimming pools, at The University of Limerick Sports Arena, as well as one of Ireland's top basketball teams, the Limerick Lions, whose home is also at the world class facilities on the University Campus.

See Also: Sport in Ireland

Towns and Villages


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