County Limerick
County Limerick
Contae Luimnigh | ||
---|---|---|
Vehicle index mark code L (since 2014) | LK (1987–2013) | |
Website | Official website | |
County Limerick (
Geography
Limerick borders four other counties:
Baronies
There are fourteen historic baronies in the county. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they are no longer used for many administrative purposes. Their official status is illustrated by Placenames Orders made since 2003, where official Irish names of baronies are listed under "Administrative units".
- Clanwilliam – Clann Liam
- Connello Lower – Conallaigh Íochtaracha
- Connello Upper – Conallaigh Uachtaracha
- Coonagh – Uí Chuanach
- Coshlea – Cois Laoi
- Coshma– Cois Máighe
- Glenquin – Gleann an Choim
- Kenry – Caonraí
- Kilmallock – Cill Mocheallóg
- North Liberties – Na Líbeartaí Thuaidh
- Owneybeg – Uaithne Beag
- Pubblebrien – Pobal Bhriain
- Shanid – Seanaid
- Smallcounty – An Déis Bheag
Most populous towns
Limerick City is the county town and is shown in bold.
Rank | Change since 2016 |
Town | Population (Census 2022) |
Increase since 2016 |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 0 | Limerick | 102,287 | 1.4% |
2 | 0 | Newcastle West | 7,209 | 1.4% |
3 | 0 | Annacotty | 3,398 | 2.5% |
4 | 0 | Castleconnell | 2,488 | 2.8% |
5 | 0 | Abbeyfeale | 2,206 | 1.5% |
6 | 0 | Kilmallock | 1,761 | 0.92% |
7 | 0 | Caherconlish | 1,569 | 1% |
8 | 1 | Murroe | 1,432 | 0.66% |
9 | 1 | Croom
|
1,240 | 1.1% |
10 | 2 | Rathkeale | 1,231 | -7.03% |
11 | 0 | Askeaton | 1,236 | 1.4% |
12 | 0 | Adare | 1,224 | 1.4% |
Physical geography
One possible meaning for the county's name in Irish Luimneach is "the flat area"; this description is accurate as the land consists mostly of a fertile limestone plain. Moreover, the county is ringed by mountains: the
Volcanic rock is to be found in numerous areas in the county, 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.
Tributaries of the Shannon drainage basin located in the county include the rivers Mulcair, Loobagh, Maigue, Camogue, Morning Star, Deel, and the Feale.
History
It is thought that humans had established themselves 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 túatha.
From the 4th to the 11th century, the ancient kingdom of the
As the Ui Fidgenti were the ruling clan in Limerick after 400 a.d., the Uí Fidgenti still made a substantial contribution to the population of the central and western regions of County Limerick. Their capital was Dún Eochair, the great earthworks of which still remain and can be found close to the modern town of Bruree, on the River Maigue. Bruree is a derivation of Brugh Righ, or Fort of the King. Catherine Coll, the mother of Éamon de Valera, was a native of Bruree and this is where he was taken by her brother to be raised.
St. Patrick brought Christianity to Limerick area in the 5th century. Various annals record that St. Patrick quarrelled with the chief of the Ui Fidgenti (who, though hosting St. Patrick, had his horses stolen as he journeyed into their territory) but was embraced by the brother of the chief. The adoption of Christianity resulted in the establishment of important monasteries in Limerick, at
Following the establishment of the Ui Fidgenti circa 377 a.d., there were few significant changes in political control until the arrival of the
The county was to be further ravaged by war over the next century. After the
The 18th and 19th centuries saw a long period of persecution against the Catholic majority, many of whom lived in poverty. In spite of this oppression, however, the famous
. The Great Famine 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 British Government enabled the farmers of the county to purchase lands they had previously only held as tenants, paying high rent to absentee landlords.Limerick saw much fighting during the War of Independence of 1919 to 1921 particularly in the east of the county. The subsequent Irish Civil War saw bitter fighting between the newly established Irish Free State soldiers and IRA "Irregulars", especially in the city (See Irish Free State offensive).
Local government and politics
Local government
The local government area of Limerick City and County is under the jurisdiction of
Councillors
The current local electoral areas are:[7]
- Adare-Rathkeale (6 seats)
- Cappamore-Kilmallock (7 seats)
- Limerick City East (7 seats)
- Limerick City North (7 seats)
- Limerick City West (7 seats)
- Newcastle West (6 seats)
The three city LEAs form the Metropolitan District of Limerick City. Each of the other LEAs forms its own municipal district.
Constituencies
The county is part of the
Irish language
There are 2,322 Irish speakers in County Limerick attending the six
Culture
In 2014, Limerick became Ireland's inaugural National City of Culture, with a wide variety of artistic and cultural events occurring at various locations around the city. The Limerick City Gallery of Art on Pery Square is the city's chief venue for contemporary art exhibitions. Theatres include the Limetree Theatre, Mary I; the University Concert Hall and the Millennium Theatre, LIT all in the city. Others include the Friar's Gate in Kilmallock and the Honey Fitz in Lough Gur. The city has an active music scene, which has produced bands such as The Cranberries. The Limerick Art Gallery, the Limerick School of Art and Design, and Ormston House cater for painting, sculpture and performance art of all styles.
Limerick is also home to comedians
Places of interest
- Adare
- Adare Manor
- Castle Oliver
- Clare Glens
- Croom Castle
- Curraghchase Forest Park
- Foynes Flying Boat Museum
- Glenstal Abbey
- Glin-Estuary Drive
- Glin Castle
- Grange Stone Circle
- Hunt Museum
- King John's Castle
- Limerick City Museum
- Lough Gur
- The Treaty Stone
Transport
Rail
The main railway station in Limerick is
- the Limerick–Ballybrophy railway line leading to North Tipperary stopping at Castleconnell, Birdhill, Nenagh Cloughjordan and Roscrea
- the Ennis line through County Clare which continues on to Galway as part of the Western Railway Corridor
- the line.
In addition, a line exists leading to Foynes however the last revenue service was in 2000.
Road & bus
The
Air
Although, no commercial airports are situated in County Limerick, the region's needs are serviced from Shannon Airport situated 25 km over the border in County Clare which has many flights to Europe and North America. However, some in the south of the county may also use Kerry Airport and Cork Airport which are also within 1 hour's drive. Coonagh Aerodrome located just outside the city close to the Clare border is used for light pleasure craft. Foynes, a village in the west of the county, had a unique part to play in the development of aviation. During the late 1930s and early 1940s, land-based planes lacked sufficient flying range for Atlantic crossings. Foynes was the last port of call on its eastern shore for seaplanes. As a result, Foynes would become one of the biggest civilian airports in Europe during World War II. Surveying flights for flying boat operations were made by Charles Lindbergh in 1933 and a terminal was begun in 1935. The first transatlantic proving flights were operated on 5 July 1937 with a Pan Am Sikorsky S-42 service from Botwood, Newfoundland and Labrador on the Bay of Exploits and a BOAC Short Empire service from Foynes with successful transits of twelve and fifteen-and-a-quarter hours respectively. Services to New York, Southampton, Montreal, Poole and Lisbon followed, the first non-stop New York service operating on 22 June 1942 in 25 hours 40 minutes. All of this changed following the construction and opening in 1942 of Shannon Airport on flat bogland on the northern bank of the Estuary. Foynes flying-boat station closed in 1946.
Sea
Originally Limerick port was located near the confluence of the Abbey and Shannon rivers at King's Island. Today the port is located further downstream on the Shannon alongside the Dock Road and is operated by the Shannon Foynes Port Company (SFPC) who operate all marine activities in the Shannon estuary. It is a general-purpose facility port. Plans to close the port and relocate all activity to the deepwater facility further downstream at Foynes have been abandoned. The plans included a major regeneration of the dockland area. Foynes is the main deepwater commercial port. SFPC is the second largest port facility in Ireland, handling over 10 million tonnes of cargo annually through the six terminals currently operational.
Sport
Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) games are more popular in the parts outside of the city. Hurling is popular in east, mid and south Limerick. Limerick GAA board plays its home games at the Gaelic Grounds in the city. The county hurling team has won the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship twelve times, the last in 2023. The county has also won 20 Munster Championships, last in 2019 and 12 National Hurling Leagues, the last success coming in 2019. The Limerick Senior Hurling Championship is also one of the strongest club championships in the country. Historically it has been dominated by two clubs, Ahane and Patrickswell. Clubs from the county have won the Munster Senior Club Championship six times, with Na Piarsaigh becoming the first team from the county to win the All-Ireland Senior Club hurling final when they beat Cushendall of Antrim 2–25 to 2–14 on 17 March 2016.
The other GAA sport of Gaelic football is more popular in west Limerick, particularly along the Shannon Estuary west of Askeaton and along the Kerry border. There are also football strongholds in the southeast of the county and on the eastern edges of the city. Although one of the strongest teams in the country during the early years of the GAA, the game in the county was overshadowed by hurling throughout the 20th century and its last success in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, was in 1896. However, Limerick footballers have seen a reversal of fortunes in recent years and contested successive Munster Senior Football Championship finals in 2003 and 2004.
The city also has one of Ireland's two 50-metre (55 yd) swimming pools, at the
Limerick is also the hometown of WBO World Middleweight boxing Champion Andy Lee, who defeated Matt Korobov on 13 December 2014, in Las Vegas. He became the first Irishman to win a world title on American soil since 1934.
Media
Broadcasting
RTÉ Lyric FM, a state-run classical music radio station and part of RTÉ, broadcasts nationally from studios in Limerick city centre. Limerick's local radio station is Live 95FM, broadcasting from 'Radio House', near the waterfront at Steamboat Quay. Spin Southwest, owned by Communicorp, broadcasts to Counties Kerry, Clare, Limerick, Tipperary and southwest Laois from its studios at Landmark Buildings in the Raheen Industrial Estate. West Limerick 102 is broadcast from Newcastle West and is a community station for the west of the county. The national broadcaster, RTÉ, has radio studios in the city, which are periodically used to broadcast programming from Limerick.
The two main newspapers that service the city and county are the Limerick Leader and the freesheet Limerick Post. The Limerick Leader prints three different editions: City, County and West Limerick. The Limerick Chronicle is owned by the Leader and is primarily a city paper. The Weekly Observer serves the western half of the county while the Vale Star covers South Limerick and North Cork.
TV
Irish TV, a local TV station, covers Limerick stories with its programme Limerick County Matters which goes out once a week.
Anthem
The song "Limerick you're a lady" is traditionally associated with the county. It is often heard at sports fixtures involving the county.
See also
- List of abbeys and priories in County Limerick
- High Sheriff of County Limerick
- High Sheriff of Limerick City
- Nicholas Peacock
- Wild Atlantic Way
References
- ^ "History of Limerick on Roots Ireland – Roots Ireland". www.rootsireland.ie. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
- ^ "Census of Population 2022 – Summary Results". Central Statistics Office (Ireland). Retrieved 30 May 2023.
- ^ "Press Statement Census of Population 2022 - Summary Results Limerick - CSO - Central Statistics Office". www.cso.ie. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
- ^ "Census 2022: Profile 1 - Population Distribution and Movement: F1013 - Population Density and Area Size". data.cso.ie. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
- ^ "Local authorities". citizensinformation.ie. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
- ^ Local Government Reform Act 2014, s. 9: Cesser and amalgamation of certain local government areas (No. 1 of 2014, s. 9). Enacted on 27 January 2014. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 21 March 2022.
- ^ City and County of Limerick Local Electoral Areas and Municipal Districts Order 2018 (S.I. No. 624 of 2018). Signed on 19 December 2018. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 5 September 2020.
- ^ Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2017, Schedule (No. 39 of 2017, Schedule). Enacted on 23 December 2017. Act of the Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 30 December 2021.
- ^ "Oideachas Trí Mheán na Gaeilge in Éirinn sa Ghalltacht 2010–2011" (PDF) (in Irish). gaelscoileanna.ie. 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
- ^ "Limerick". Archived from the original on 12 September 2009. Retrieved 5 September 2009.
External links
- Limerick's Official Tourist Website
- Limerick City and County Council
- County Limerick at Connors Genealogy