old illustrations of limerick

The first illustration is a W.H. Bartlett’s nineteenth century engraving of Thomond Bridge, King John’s Castle and St Mary’s Cathedral; a composition which has frequently been used to represent the city. (C. O’Carroll)

The second illustration is also a W.H. Bartlett’s nineteenth century engraving of Limerick Custom House. The symmetry and open aspect of the Custom House made it a focus despite surrounding buildings. (Judith Hill – The building of Limerick)

I believe the Custom House engraving documents the second stage of the port of Limerick.

Fine quality images Paul, anymore on hand?

Below the same illustration as a painting. Source Limerick City Museum Online.

Limerick Customs House

One of my favourites is this view from the tower of St Mary’s Cathedral. The Court House can be seen at the base of the Tower. Here began the first port of Limerick on what is the present day Potato Market / Merchant’s Quay. It shows the Custom Quay, Arthur’s Quay and the floating dock at (Wellesley) Sarsfield’s Bridge.

Image Limerick Museum

Wellelsley Bridge in Limerick in 1840

Limerick, the Old Exchange 1797

Praxiteles, here a little background to Ferrar’s engraving of the Exchange.

The Exchange of 1673 had been pulled down by 1702 and a new one erected. It was considered to be an improvement because the corporation had succeeded in acquiring some land from the cathedral so that the new, and larger, building could be pushed back and did not project onto the street. This is an early example of the concern for straighter, more regular and well-defined streets. Streets which, as Ferrar said, were more ‘convenient’, allowing the passage of wheeled vehicles and giving unobstructed views. This thinking had penetrated the corporation fifty years before Pery built John’s Square.

The Exchange survives as a row of Tuscan columns barely distinguishable in a wall which surrounds St Mary’s graveyard. This is the ‘re-edified’ structure of 1778 which Ferrar describes:

It is supported by seven columns in the Tuscan order; the front is composed of cut stone, the windows trimmed with stone architraves and cornices, with a Tuscan entablature at the top.

(Judith Hill – The building of Limerick)

Below only remnants of the Exchange to be seen today.

Wellesley Bridge (Sarsfield) and Floating Dock

The Port of Limerick was always moving down river to meet it’s needs.

Painting, watercolour. View of Limerick taken from the North Strand showing the New Bridge and Docks. J. Jones del. c. 1835. Naive view of Wellesley Bridge (Sarsfield) from mid-river to the south, showing narrow roadway on l., part of Strand Barracks, the lie-by to r., granary style building at r., courthouse and St Mary’s Cathedral in distance. Framed.

Scale of subjects not correctly proportional.

Source Limerick City Museum Online.

Limerick, bridge, Cathedral and castle by Westell 1829

St. MAry’s Cathedral engraved by Eastgate and published by Alexander Hogg c.1800

King John’s Castle, Limerick, after J. Cousens 1840

@CologneMike wrote:

One of my favourites is this view from the tower of St Mary’s Cathedral. The Court House can be seen at the base of the Tower. Here began the first port of Limerick on what is the present day Potato Market / Merchant’s Quay. It shows the Custom Quay, Arthur’s Quay and the floating dock at (Wellesley) Sarsfield’s Bridge.

Image Limerick Museum

It really has a genuine “gothic” feel to it!

O’Connell Street/Avenue – or George’s Street as it was known:
[ATTACH]6127[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]6128[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]6129[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]6130[/ATTACH]

@Praxiteles wrote:

It really has a genuine “gothic” feel to it!

Then a “fortified gothic” feel to it. The tower commands a great vantage point, overlooking as to who might be coming up the Shannon.

@jimg wrote:

Jesuit Church Crescent

I would love to see an earlier illustration of the Georgian Crescent before the Jesuits “planted” their church in the middle of it in 1869. They even managed to replace the last building on the corner of the Crescent with a concert hall. Thankfully the Crescent on the opposite side is fully intact.

Two further veducta of Lmerick:

The Treaty Stone in 1905

Sarsfield Bridge

That’s an idyllic photo (above) of Sarsfield’s Bridge with the sailing ship tied up in the foreground on O’Callaghan Strand.

The Port of Limerick developed on the other side of the river below the bridge. The port kept moving location, going downriver along the Quays (Harvey’s, Howley’s, Bishop’s and Steam Boat) and finally settled in the Floating / Wet Docks (Ted Russel) which was opened in 1850’s. The opening appeared in the illustrated London news.

Images Limerick Museum

Baal’s Bridge / Abbey River

(Below) W.H. Bartlett’s view of Baal’s Bridge.

A Romantic nineteenth century depiction evoking an imagined past (Limerick Museum)

With the construction of the quays and houses on the Abbey River and the loss of the walls, the English town and Irish town were given a good view of each other. Instead of joining and facing at the single point of Baal’s Bridge they now shared the length of the Abbey River. The towns had been turned inside out and, in the process, had opened up.

Frequently, in eighteenth and early nineteenth century watercolours and engravings, Limerick is represented by a view of the Abbey River from Lock Quay towards Baal’s Bridge with the Custom House in the background. This seemed to epitomise the city.

There is often an element of romanticism in the pictures; an imagined past might be reconstructed. W.H. Bartlett (1809-1854) would have seen the old bridge but he uses his imagination to depict the river before Lock Quay was built showing the rough banks and crowds of women wrapped in shawls who might have washed clothes there.

The old houses, the few that remained on the bridge, are cast in deep shadow and the stormy clouds above reflected in the river make this a dramatic evocation of the past.

(Judith Hill – The building of Limerick)

Mr. Berry in February 1775 found nothing romantic about the state of his house on the bridge! Here an account from Ferrar’s history of Limerick.

New Bridge / Abbey River (Today Mathew Bridge)

Painting, photographic print of, colour. View of New Bridge, Limerick, between Bridge St and Rutland St, attributed to Samuel Frederick Brocas, c. 1830. View looking downstream, from Charlotte’s Quay, bridge to left, County Court House in centre (built 1811), tower of St. Mary’s cathedral on extreme right beyond houses on George’s Quay, and another tower, lower, nearer, behind the houses. Masts of ships visible beyond bridge, which is a three arched humpbacked structure.

From left, woman with umbrella, barrels on edge of paved area, donkey and cart beside pile of stones, large coach and four crossing bridge, uniformed figures sitting at back. Large convertible carriage drawn by two horses in foreground in centre, two women sitting in it, crest or coat of arms on side and rear. To right of carriage, a child standing beside the river wall appears to be wearing a cast off uniform coat and hat many sizes too large. Right again, there is a standing figure (smoking clay pipe?) beside horse and cart, barrel on cart, cage with fowl under end of cart.

On George’s Quay, washerwomen on steps down to river, and on river’s edge washing clothes. Above the river, on the quay itself, there is a very large crowd which appears to be going towards the bridge, and onto the bridge. There is a banner(?) visible midway along the quay in the crowd. A ridge-roofed canopy/structure with open sides stands in the street opposite the Bridge street end of the bridge. The buildings along George’s Quay include two gablefronted structures, one in the Dutch style, also some long, low, squat buildings with steeply pitched roofs, and some large three or four storey brick 18th or 19th century buildings.

Source Limerick City Museum Online.

Richmond Place (Crescent) Jesuit Church

I did not realise that the Crescent (Richmond Place) was developed through two Tontine schemes.

The first Tontine, known as the Richmond Place West Tontine Company, was built on a vacant site at the Crescent owned by the architect Mr. Robert O’Callaghan-Newenham.

An earlier plan by a client of his, Mr. Richard pepper, to finance the construction of ‘three elegant houses’ on the same site by way of the Crescent Lottery Scheme had failed in 1806.
(The Old Private Banks of Munster) The funds for this lottery appear :rolleyes: to have been lost in the crash of Furnell’s Bank of Limerick in 1806.

Undaunted by this financial setback, Mr. O’Callaghan-Newenham set about attracting new investors to finance his proposed development. The Richmond Place West Tontine Company completed the houses in 1807.

The Richmond Place West Tontine became the location for the Jesuit’s Crescent College in 1862. The three houses became a school with one main entrance in the Crescent. Reconstruction of the façade was so expertly done that no traces of the original three front doors remain except on Ordnance Survey maps and old photographs of the street.

Rev. John Hoare built the second Tontine development in the Crescent, sometime between 1805-1809. This scheme was called the Richmond Place East Tontine Company.

Tontines

Tontine schemes were widely used in the 18th and 19th centuries to fund speculative property developments in England, France and the United States.

An arrangement in which equal sums of money are contributed by a number of persons to a pot or kitty, and the total sum is awarded to the participant who outlives the others.

Eventually Tontines were banned in the United States after the untimely deaths of some subscribers.

Source Booklet “The Pery Square Tontine” by James McMahon (Limerick Civic Trust)

The Jesuits, after a period in cramped quarters in Hartstonge Street, finally purchased the central buildings of the north side of the Crescent. Here they built their church utilising the natural focus of the crescent form to give it prominence. Unfortunately the façade was of an over-wrought character unsympathetic to the plain and dignified appearance of the Crescent; its prominent position is a mixed blessing. Steps lead directly from the pavement to the entrance of this church. There are no railings and no gates. The high doors are open all day.

(Judith Hill)

Image: O’Connell Avenue and Crescent. Note no Jesuit Church (1869) to be seen then.
Map of Crescent: (1) Concert Hall (2) Jesuit Church
Aerial of Limerick 1950’s Crescent in foreground. (Limerick’s Life)

Turkish Baths

These Turkish baths were located on the corner of O’Connell Avenue (Military Road) and Gerard Street. Established in 1859 and remodelled in 1872. In the background is the Redemptorist’s Church (1858) on Henry Street.

Image Limerick Museum

Ok. I knew I had a lot more of these.

In no particular order – vaguely chronological.

A couple of illustrations:

Georges Street (O’Connell Street) at Bedford Row:
[ATTACH]6190[/ATTACH]

Thomond Bridge and Wesley (Sarsfield) Bridge:
[ATTACH]6198[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]6202[/ATTACH]

Some photo’s next. Presumably late 19th century.

Interesting building called Havergal Hall (long gone – replaced by the Lyric cinema – see below). Is the TSB bank still there and operating as such?
[ATTACH]6191[/ATTACH]
Interesting snippet of history regarding this building:

At his Inaugural Address as President to the Limerick Literary and Scientific Society held at the Leamy School in November 1852, William Lane Joynt proposed the establishment of an Athenaeum for Limerick. In his speech, he referred to the difficulties facing all cultural societies in the city in that they lacked a permanent venue or concert hall in which to conduct their activities. The Limerick Philosophical Society founded in 1840 had raised funds to construct the Philosophical Rooms at Havergal Hall (later the Lyric Cinema) as their headquarters. However, the construction costs of Havergal Hall exceeded the budget and the society were forced, under threats of bankrupcy, to hand over the building to a creditor, Francis Spaight, who immediately leased it out to a company manufacturing Limerick Lace. A new non-sectarian body, the Limerick Literary and Scientific Society emerged from this disaster in 1847. William Lane Joynt addressed the difficulty of different cultural societies working together in harmony. He concluded his speech saying “I know full well that Irish undertakings are said to begin with many signs of promise, but die before they reach maturity. but with the failure of the Philosophical society to warn us, the literary wants of the city to impel us on, and the dignity of the cause to inspire us, I have little doubt of our success”. The proposal for an Athenaeum received wide support at the meeting. In 1853 William Lane Joynt wrote four articles in the Limerick Chronicle to elaborate on his ideas as to how an Athenaeum might function. His writings are a model of clear-thinking analysis and offer a fascinating insight into post-Famine Limerick.

This was pulled from what looked liked being an interesting website on this society which unfortunately only exists in fragments in Google’s cache.

Next a few photo’s which show better times for retail in Limerick. I think this one of Cannock’s has appeared before:
[ATTACH]6186[/ATTACH]
An alternative view of the same distinctive canopy:
[ATTACH]6195[/ATTACH]
Further up O’Connell Street, another bustling scene:
[ATTACH]6187[/ATTACH]
The file name of the above refers to a Country Club but I don’t know which building it refers to.

One of the dock road, Wesley bridge in the background. The crane on the dockside suggests it was still being used as a dock:
[ATTACH]6189[/ATTACH]

Now some more modern photos. For some reason, to me Limerick actually looks better in a lot of these than it does these days simply due to the lack of clutter (signs, railings, bins, etc.) in the streets despite the electricity poles. There’s a film noirish feel to them:
Henry Street
[ATTACH]6192[/ATTACH]

Mallow Street
[ATTACH]6194[/ATTACH]

O’Connell Street – with Cruises Hotel but Todd’s hasn’t been built/rebuilt
[ATTACH]6188[/ATTACH]

The Lyric cinema (which replaced Havergal Hall above). What a strange mixture of architectural styles – it looks like an art deco building with bits attached:
[ATTACH]6193[/ATTACH]

A more recent one of O’Connell Street from the cresent:
[ATTACH]6196[/ATTACH]

I hadn’t realised that this was called O’Dwyers Bridge – I remember it as Athlunkard Bridge.
[ATTACH]6197[/ATTACH]

The newly build Regional Hospital. I love these modernist buildings from this era:
[ATTACH]6199[/ATTACH]

Finally a scene of Thomond bridge. Probably a Sunday:
[ATTACH]6201[/ATTACH]

Leamy’s School

The Leamy Free Schools in Hartstonge Street, were established by will of William Leamy, who in 1814 left £13,300 for the education of the children of the poor, especially in the neighbourhood of Limerick. William Leamy, a native of Limerick spent his life at sea. He made a large fortune, possibly from piracy 😎 on the high seas; and died on the island of Maderia.

“The History of Limerick City” Sean Spellissy

Image Limerick Museum

Frank McCourt is a past pupil. I wonder did he know that the school’s benefactor was a Robin Hood figure?

@jimg wrote:

Is the TSB bank still there and operating as such?

Cool Pics Mike. TSB building is still there. Closed as a bank last year or so and currently has a big SOLD sign on it like a whole load of other buildings in the city…and like the rest God only knows what the plans are..apart from the Opera Centre. There really is so much property in the city centre with a sold/acquired for client/short term lease sign tacked on the sideI really wish they would get a move on..at least on some of them

Institutions: The Limerick Workhouse

The splendour of the new Georgian town (Newtown Pery) was in stark contrast to the wretched poverty endured by the “Gaelic” citizens of the city. The Great Famine probably ended the Georgian building era in Limerick? The Limerick Workhouse replaced the House of Industry on Clancy Strand. Today it is still in operation as St. Camillus’s Hospital.

The favoured nineteenth century solution to the problems of unemployment, sickness and extreme poverty was the institution. Institutions came under various names, they were housed in similar looking buildings. Many of them were also located in the same area.

Limerick had one of each by the 1840s. In 1811 the county Infirmary was built on Mulgrave Street. It was joined in 1817 by the County Gaol, financed by the grand jury. By the early 1820s the Lunatic Asylum, built by the board of Works, stood next to the jail.

The Workhouse was set apart at a further distance from the city on the other side of the river in Co. Clare. It was built in 1841 under the administration of the Poor Law which attempted to by-pass traditional interests and the building had a wider catchment area.

All were free standing and surrounded by walls. Some stood within park-like grounds. These custodial buildings were built to briefs that specified self-containment, isolation and control. This influenced their design and their location outside the centre.

Judith Hill Building of Limerick

Image Workhouses.org.uk

Hi CologneMike, Do you know where the image of the fishermen on Thomond Bridge came from? I came accross it a few years ago – perhaps in an edition of the, ‘The Old Limerck Journal’ but have never been able to find it since. Do you know if it is possible to get a copy, somewhere? Thanks. Also as far as I am aware the last Georgian housing to be built in Limerick was the terrace of six houses on Pery Square, overlooking the park – finished in c.1836.

The TSB was sold to Sarsfield Credit Union, not sure when they intend to move from beside the Belltable to there though.

@ShaneP wrote:

Do you know where the image of the fishermen on Thomond Bridge came from?

Shane, have a look at Limerick – a stroll down Memory Lane Vol-1

Gone Fishin’

This picture, taken in 1958, shows how Limerick men whiled away what little free time they had. The picture was taken at Thomond Bridge by Donal McMonagle.

Sean Curtin

Will do. Thanks for that CologneMike

@jimg wrote:

The file name of the above refers to a Country Club but I don’t know which building it refers to.

There seems to be very little written about the Country Club building. It was acquired by the Augustinian’s Order and they converted it into a presbytery. They built a church next door (to the right) in the 1940’s. The entrance / porch of the old Country Club is gone.

View from Country Club 1

The roof of the entrance / porch was often used as a platform to take photographs.

Junction Bedford Row – Thomas Street / George’s Street (O’Connell Street)

Limerick Museum: Larger image

View from Country Club 2

A few years later and the junction has since received an additional street lamp. Public transport in the form of a double-decker horse-drawn coach. It’s probably making it’s way out of town in the direction of Ballinacurra. One can even make out the conductor collecting fares. Jaunting cars appear on most corners and they probably deemed as taxis?

Limerick Museum: Larger image

View from Country Club 3

Probably taken in the 1920’s / 1930’s? I wonder if the ornate street lamp on the left is gas or electric? No major changes to the street’s built landscape. The first motorised buses appear though the jaunting car is still in business (below right corner).

Limerick Museum: Larger image

Heres another view of the country club taken from the first floor of the old george hotel in the late 19th Century. The arched entrance to the old Augustinian church can be seen 2 doors to the right of the country club. The building at the Roches Street junction is also an interesting one, its certainly not the chicken hut anyway!:D

Tait’s Army Clothing Factory

Also known as the Prospect Hill Clothing Factory or better known as the Limerick Clothing Factory.

Peter Tait, a Scotsman, pioneered the manufacture of ready-made clothing in an era when even army uniforms were all made by hand. In 1850 he introduced power-driven machinery and mass-production methods to the city. Within a few years his factory was producing uniforms for the entire British army. During the American Civil War, Tait supplied both North and South with military uniforms.

Sean Spellissy (The History of Limerick City)

Pery Street / Tait’s Clock – Baker Place

Sir Peter Tait was mayor three times between 1866 and 1868. He lived in South Hill House. During his mayoralty, the 65-foot high clock tower designed by William Corbett, the city surveyor, was completed at a cost of ₤750.

Sean Spellissy (The History of Limerick City)

The building on the left was a Protestant orphan hall and the Dominican Church is at the end.

Limerick Museum: Larger image

Market’s Field

This photo (circa 1930’s) was taken from the spire of St. John’s Cathedral. The Garryowen road resembled nothing more than a country boreen back then. The fields to the left were still been farmed where now the large housing estate of Garryowen now stands.

The Market’s Field was a true sports venue. The GAA started to play here in 1888. Munster played the All Blacks here in 1906 and it was the home for the then local Garryowen rugby team before they absconded to Dooradoyle in the 1960’s. The rugby goal posts can be clearly seen in the photo, as also the race track built around it by Bord na gCon for greyhound racing. It also became the home of the Limerick football team.

Below the photographer captured part of the roof of the girls’ convent and the smaller boys’ schools. Alas these cut stone buildings were replaced in the 1970’s by a concrete / grey brick building. Ruefully regretted by everyone today, the so called “new building” has just undergone a massive facelift.

The two storey building at the bottom was the home of Jim Kemmy. The Kemmy family were stone masons. The lane that ran parallel to the Garryowen road along Kemmy’s house was probably the original medieval lane leading to the John’s Gate entrance of the walled Irish town section of the city. At the top end of the Markets Field was once the site of the Garryowen Brewery, it can be seen in old Limerick maps.

Image Limerick Museum

@Tuborg wrote:

From what I could gather, Roches Stores purchased the building previously owned by McBirneys in the early 1940s. This building was gutted by a fire in 1948 and it along with the adjacent building on Sarsfield were demolished. The current building was opened in 1951. Its considered a good example of an art deco style department store but is not a listed building.

Photo of the old Roches Stores building(McBirneys) and Cannocks from the early 1900s.

Here is another perspective below of McBirneys (left, flag pole on roof) from Brunswick (Sarsfield) Street circa 1900. It seems the original McBirneys building was not that large. The two neighbouring buildings below it, had a more interesting décor to their façades.

Any idea what these two buildings (statute on roof and shop front with large canopy) were? Could the two storey building be the Imperial Bakery (Permanent Trustee Savings Bank)?

Limerick Museum: Larger image

@CologneMike wrote:

Any idea what these two buildings (statute on roof and shop front with large canopy) were? Could the two storey building be the Imperial Bakery (Permanent Trustee Savings Bank)?

The larger building with the statue was part of Roches Stores when it burned down, it was probably originally part of McBirneys department store. The neighbouring building used to be Cannocks furniture department and was linked to the main O Connell Street store, it would have been demolished along with the adjacent two storey structure in the 1980s to make way for the current extension to Roches Stores(Debenhams).

The building with the pitched roof beside James Atteridge is actually the Imperial bakery (now Permanent tsb). The more decorative facade that exists now was added in the early 20th Century. James Atteridges shop is now Pa Martins pub, of course the remaining buildings on that side of Sarsfield Street were levelled to facilitate the Liddy Street relief road in the early 80s.

Former Imperial Bakery

Attachment show the Henry Street/Sarsfield Street junction in the 1970s

@Tuborg wrote:

The larger building with the statue was part of Roches Stores when it burned down, it was probably originally part of McBirneys department store.

I never realised that Roches Stores were that long in Limerick.

The neighbouring building used to be Cannocks furniture department and was linked to the main O Connell Street store, it would have been demolished along with the adjacent two storey structure in the 1980s to make way for the current extension to Roches Stores(Debenhams).

So the fire seems to have been limited to just two buildings back then. The Cannock’s furniture building must have been demolished a little earlier (1970’s) as I can remember Roches having a crude loading bay 😡 to the rear of their building on Sarsfield Street.

The building with the pitched roof beside James Atteridge is actually the Imperial bakery (now Permanent tsb).

Did the Imperial bakery just lower their building by a floor or two and/or rebuilt their frontage?

The aerial image is probably from the early 1960’s. A lot of warehousing to be seen from the Arthur’s Quay era? Cannock’s furniture store is captured well.

@CologneMike wrote:

I never realised that Roches Stores were that long in Limerick.

I wasnt aware they traded out of those buildings either until I came across a book last Christmas which had some superb, previously unpublished photographs of the city centre from the 1940s through to the late 60s, annoyingly I never got around to buying it!:( I think Roches were only in Limerick a few short years before their premises were destroyed!

So the fire seems to have been limited to just two buildings back then. The Cannock’s furniture building must have been demolished a little earlier (1970’s) as I can remember Roches having a crude loading bay 😡 to the rear of their building on Sarsfield Street.

The 70s were a bit before my time so I’ll take your word for it! You’re right though, if you look at the aerial photo below from the 1970s you can see the building is gone, another example of a building being demolished just for the sake of it, a common occurance in Limerick around this period!.:rolleyes:

Did the Imperial bakery just lower their building by a floor or two and/or rebuilt their frontage?

The facade was just rebuilt, the main structure of the building remains!

The aerial image is probably from the early 1960’s. A lot of warehousing to be seen from the Arthur’s Quay era? Cannock’s furniture store is captured well.

Thats a cropped version of a much larger aerial image, it was taken around 1965, not long after the facade of Cannocks and its famous clock were demolished!:mad:

Limerick City Centre 1970s (Derhur)

Tuborg, that image shows the aftermath of Cannock’s Furnitue Store very well. An ugly cavity from Sarsfield Street was cut right through to Honan’s Quay for deliveries and a tiny customer car park.

One can see the first phase of Sarsfield House (left) was just completed as also the former Norwich Union building site at the corner of Patrick Street / Denmark Street (crane) using the same concrete building technique (i.e. factory made).

The Arthur’s Quay car park was a real crude job, probably used the demolished rubble from Sarsfield House, Norwich Union and Cannocks Furniture Store to fill it in.

Still though the orginal cut stone quay walls must be still lying under there. Could be worth digging them up and re-using them for say the canal or Abbey river (Groove island), when the big regeneration project takes place.

King John’s Castle, Thomond Bridge and Toll House

King John’s Castle was erected by the Normans in the early years of the thirteenth century.
The bridge and it’s toll house were designed (1840) by the brothers James and George Richard Pain.
The buildings within the castle were a former British military barracks.
In the background is St Mary’s Cathedral (12th century)

The image also shows that the road from the Island field (Verdant Place) had no direct access to the bridge at the corner with the Toll House, as it seems that there were a flight of steps at the junction?

I wonder are these steps still there under the road? Maybe an opportunity to extend a pedestrianised river walk around the back of St.Munchin’s Church by restoring the former steps? The junction as it is today, is definitely not the best location for road safety reasons. Access to St. Mary’s park is now better served at the roundabout 200 yards further on?

Limerick Museum: Larger image

Looking at that aeriel photo of 1970’s Limerick, it just shows how much better off we would have been without Liddy St.

Lock Quay and Canal

The 1.5 Kilometre stretch of canal from Lock Quay (Abbey River) to the Shannon was built in 1758. It connected Limerick and Dublin via the Grand Canal. The buildings on the left were used for milling corn. The buildings on the right beyond the Shannon Navigation Gate were used by the Guinness brewery. The last barge leaving Limerick for Dublin had a cargo of two tons of empty Guinness barrels (18th May 1960).

Source: Limerick in old Postcards Jim Kemmy / Larry Walsh

Limerick Museum: Larger image

City Exchange

The Exchange from a painting of 1820. It was the headquarters of Limerick Corporation from 1673 to 1846.

Limerick Corporation itself financed the construction of its own headquarters. In 1702, the exchange, which had been severely damaged during the sieges of 1690-91, was rebuilt during the mayoralty of William Davis. After this initial project was completed, little more was done fro sixty years. During the period of the Corporation Roches, all of the Limerick civic buildings were allowed to decay.

In 1761, the Committee of the Irish House of Commons which investigated abuses in the Limerick Corporation reported that ‘the thosel’ and market house (i.e. the Exchange) of the said city are in a ruinous condition, that the courthouse is pulled down and the gaol not fit for the reception of prisoners.

Thomas Smyth MP (1776-85) took control of the Corporation in 1776, Smyth had the Exchange entirely rebuilt in 1777-78. The Corporation met the total cost, amounting to £1500. The dean and chapter of St. Mary’s Cathedral had donated a part of the churchyard to the Corporation, so the new Exchange was larger than the old, and unlike the latter, it did not project onto the street.

(History of Limerick Corporation by Mathew Potter)

Image from Limerick Library (Historic Limerick: The City and its Treasures by Laurence Walsh, the Exchange)

Previous post with present day image.

Commercial Building (Later Town Hall) Rutland Street

The Commercial buildings were built in 1805 for the Limerick Chamber of Commerce. They later moved to 96 O’Connell Street in 1833.

Thomas Spring Rice MP 1820 (Painting Limerick Chamber of Commerce)

Limerick Library Historic Limerick The City and its Treasures by Laurence Walsh, the Chairing of Spring Rice

The Acquisition of a new Town Hall (Rutland Street)

One of the most striking differences between municipal authorities in Britain and Ireland in the nineteenth century was the proliferation of magnificent new city and town halls in the former as compared to the latter. Many British cities expanded rapidly in both wealth and population as a result of the Industrial Revolution and expressed their confidence and civic pride in the construction of vast new civic headquarters.

Amongst the most striking examples were the city halls in Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow. Significantly, the most grandiose city hall built in Ireland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was that of the industrial city of Belfast.

By contrast, the economically depressed cities and towns of southern Ireland built no such fine civic headquarters. In 1852, Dublin Corporation had to be content with taking over the former Royal Exchange (a comparatively small, though beautiful building which had been used by the Dublin Guild of Merchants as a business centre) and converting it into the new City Hall.

A similar development had occurred in Limerick in the 1840s. One of the most symbolic acts of the Reformed Corporation was the removal of the civic headquarters from the old city to Newtown Pery. By this time the old Exchange was considered to be to small, and to be situated in too peripheral a location for a municipal authority that now aspired to establish its control over Newtown Pery.

The Commercial Buildings had housed both the Chamber of Commerce and the Commissioners of St Michaels Parish. After they both relocated the building was purchased by the Corporation in 1846 and became the new Town Hall.

The fate of the old Exchange was to be a sad one. It was abandoned by the Corporation and gradually fell into ruins. In 1884, it was purchased from the local authority by a wealthy member of the Church of Ireland named Robert Hunt who then presented it free of charge to St. Mary’s Cathedral. It was immediately demolished and the site used to extend the burial ground surrounding the Cathedral. However, the colonnade at the front of the Exchange was salvaged and was incorporated into the wall of the burial ground.

(History of Limerick Corporation by Mathew Potter)

The Town Hall on Rutland Street, headquarters of Limerick Corporation from 1846-1990

Jim Kemmy Municipal Museum Limerick: Larger image and image of Corporation meeting in session.

Patrick Street – Rutland Street

On the left hand side of the Patrick Street image below (Arthur’s Quay Shopping Centre) there are today only six Georgian buildings remaining. The other side of the street has fared a bit better, however with the proposed “Opera Shopping Centre” to the rear of the façades on the right hand side there are major changes in store. Some of the Georgian buildings will be demolished, others will be integrated into the centre and one will be restored to its original state.

Restoration of No. 4 Patrick Street (Limerick Civic Trust Project)

As the principal part of the Catherine Hayes project Limerick Civic Trust are embarking on the complete restoration Catherine’s birthplace, No. 4 Patrick Street. Built in the early 1700’s this shop fronted building, four storeys over basement does not have any ornate plasterwork or fancy woodwork but it does represent an important example of early Georgian architecture being part of the earliest developments in Newtown Pery.

Trade directories, census records and so forth record that No. 4 was a busy place, at various times selling confectionary, straw hats, tobacco, toys and fancy goods on the first floor. The earliest lease found dates to 1754. The interior of the shop is possibly the oldest surviving in the city. Its quaint charm is unique and something special. No. 4 Patrick Street holds an important social history by the very fact that it was the birthplace of Catherine Hayes.

No. 4 Patrick Street was generously donated to Limerick Civic Trust by Mr. Suneil Sharma of Regeneration Developments Ltd. Mr. Sharma is developing a new retail facility aptly name The Opera Centre after Catherine Hayes. Once No. 4 has been made structurally sound by Regeneration Developments Ltd, Limerick Civic Trust will fundraise actively invest a further €2 million to cover the costs of a faithful restoration of Catherine’s birthplace.

The restored building will include a shop and accommodation with a museum honouring the life of Catherine Hayes. The house will also become a civic amenity, similar to Limerick Civic Trusts Georgian House at No. 2 Pery Square. Once fully restored No. 4 Patrick Street will be available for visitors, small events, meetings and private functions.

Currently the building is in a ruinous state of disrepair.

Source Limerick Civic Trust

Images above from Buildings of Ireland

Limerick Museum: Larger image

Artillery Barracks – Mulgrave Street

The 9th Field Battery, Royal Artillery, 1898, at the Artillery Barracks in Mulgrave Street. The parade ground now houses many small businesses under the auspices of Costelloe’s Yard. Some of the buildings are still identifiable today more than a hundred years later.

Limerick – a stroll down Memory Lane Vol 3 by Sean Curtin

See also Buildings of Ireland

Limerick Museum: Larger image

I hope this isn’t too tangental to the thread. Having seen the above photos, it’s interesting to the see streetlighting with the ornate poles as in Dublin. Would it be an improvement for O’Connell St. etc. to have the repro-heritage style columns used in Dublin installed on-street instead of the building-mounted floods as at present? I think it’s pretty ugly the way the current lighting has cabling attached to the building facades (although I think there’s other cabling as well as for the lighting). Someone mentioned for another photo that the old street scene (from early motoring days) was nice and uncluttered, maybe the clutter problem would be worsened by having lighting standards? Personally I think the biggest “clutter” is on-street parking. It’s a gross indulgence really to have such valuable public thoroughfare clogged up with stationary vehicles.

Some interesting photos here. I think I’ll have to put those Limerick historical photo books on my wishlist.

@KeepAnEyeOnBob wrote:

Some interesting photos here. I think I’ll have to put those Limerick historical photo books on my wishlist.

Indeed a lot of interesting stuff published over the years!

• University of Limerick A Celebration ~ Begley Hutton
• Dowd’s History Of Limerick ~ Cian O’Carroll
• Remembering Limerick ~ David Lee
• Georgian Limerick ~ David Lee / Bob Kelly
• Made in Limerick Volume 1 ~ David Lee / Debbie Jacobs
• James Pain Architect ~ David Lee / Debbie Jacobs
• Limerick 100 Stories of the Century ~ Denis O’Shaughnessy
• How’s your Father Stories of Limerick ~ Denis O’Shaughnessy
• Stories Of Limerick ~ Denis O’Shaughnessy
• Limerick Boycott 1904 ~ Dermot Keogh / Andrew McCarthy
• Father Browne’s Limerick ~ E.E. O’Donnell
• Last Word by the Listener ~ Seamus O’Cinneide / Eoin Devereux
• The Sieges and Treaty of Limerick ~ Frank Noonan
• The Hunt Museum ~ Helen Armitage
• The Pery Square Tontine ~ James McMahon
• From out of Limerick ~ Jeremiah Newman
• The Limerick Anthology ~ Jim Kemmy
• The Limerick Compendium ~ Jim Kemmy
• Limerick Journals ~ Jim Kemmy & Co.
• Limerick in old picture postcards ~ Jim Kemmy / Larry Walsh
• The Building of Limerick ~ Judith Hill
• Anatomy of a Siege 1642 ~ Kenneth Wiggins
• King John’s Castle ~ Kenneth Wiggins
• Limerick Historical Reflections ~ Kevin Hannan
• Limerick Soviet ~ Liam Cahill
• Through Irish Eyes ~ Malachy McCourt
• Angela’s Ashes ~ Frank McCourt
• The Government and the People of Limerick ~ Mathew Potter
• Remember Jim Kemmy ~ Paul O’Reilly
• St. John’s Cathedral Conservation Project ~ Rev. T. Mullins
• In the Shadow of the Spire ~ Rev. W. Fitzmaurice / Kevin Hannon
• Limerick a stroll down Memory Lane Volumes 1 – 7 ~ Sean Curtin
• Limerick Images of a changed city ~ Sean Reynolds / Tony Hartnett
• The History of Limerick City ~ Sean Spellissy
• Limerick In Old Photographs ~ Sean Spellissy
• Limerick The Rich Land ~ Sean Spellissy
• Shannon Airport ~ Valerie Sweeny
• Ireland’s Shannon Story ~ Brian Callanan
• The Shannon Scheme ~ Andy Bielenberg
• High Tension Life on the Shannon Scheme ~ Michael McCarthy
• Bunratty Castle & Historical Park
• Ferrars History Of Limerick

@CologneMike wrote:

Patrick Street – Rutland Street

On the left hand side of the Patrick Street image below (Arthur’s Quay Shopping Centre) there are today only six Georgian buildings remaining. The other side of the street has fared a bit better, however with the proposed “Opera Shopping Centre” to the rear of the façades on the right hand side there are major changes in store. Some of the Georgian buildings will be demolished, others will be integrated into the centre and one will be restored to its original state.

With the publication of the city centre strategy, the remainder (of whats left) of the river side of Patrick Street could be about to dissapear entirely over the next couple of years. Hard to believe that in the space of around 40 years, this whole stretch of what was once, one of Limericks most intact georgian streetscapes could be no more!

From what I can gather, the street (like much of the city centre) fell into decline in and around the 1950s with many buildings becoming neglected and run down.

Patrick Steet C.1950

View trom centre of street near corners with Arthur’s Quay and Denmark Street towards Rutland St. Extreme l., part of shopfront of Prescott dyers, then a pub, then Irwin jewellers. On r., The Dublin House, then shopfront headed Gowns, then Alfie McLoughlin. Motor cars parked on each side of street, on l. Morris Minor TI 6673, pedestrians on footpaths. Street lighting suspended over centre of street.

In the above image, the curved building (Prescott Dyers) was taken down in the early 1960s, the site was used for advertising hoardings until the development of Aurthurs Quay shopping centre. The three smaller scale georgian buildings on the left were replaced by the National Irish Bank’s concrete monstrosity in the early 70s.

In 1971, most likely due to the poor condition of some structures, the then Limerick Corporation ordered the demolition of much of Francis Street and a number of buildings on Rutland Street and Patrick Street.

Images below taken on Patrick Street in July 1971 ( Courtesy of Limerick.com)

Most of the remainder of Patrick Street was demolished to make way for Aurturs Quay shopping centre in 1988.

Attached: Aerial of Patrick Street area (mid 60s)

People’s Park

It appears the People’s Park came into existence as a result of the non-completion of the Georgian terraced plans for Pery Square.

Only the tontine building scheme and the church had been completed. These buildings filled one corner of a square that could have taken 60 houses and been the size of Berkley Square in London.

In 1874 the corporation took the decision to provide a free park for the citizens. A lease for 500 years was obtained from the Earl of Limerick for Pery Square and the surrounding, vacant ground. So it was that Limerick’s only square was converted into Limerick’s first public park.

Judith Hill ~ The building of Limerick

Related Posts 1 2 3 4

Two images below from the Limerick Museum Online show how the People’s Park must have looked like in 1874. The Carnegie Free Library was built in 1906.

@KeepAnEyeOnBob wrote:

Having seen the above photos, it’s interesting to the see streetlighting with the ornate poles as in Dublin. Would it be an improvement for O’Connell St. etc. to have the repro-heritage style columns used in Dublin installed on-street instead of the building-mounted floods as at present? I think it’s pretty ugly the way the current lighting has cabling attached to the building facades (although I think there’s other cabling as well as for the lighting). Someone mentioned for another photo that the old street scene (from early motoring days) was nice and uncluttered, maybe the clutter problem would be worsened by having lighting standards?

Ornate Street Lamps

I fully agree. They would definitely compliment those streets that the city council has now designated as belonging to the city’s Georgian core. Best example is that horrible corner ESB pole at the corner of Barrington Street / Pery Square.

Below is or was an image of one the last remaining ornate street lamps down by the docks (Clarion Hotel?). As in the Patrick Street image above, the ornate street lamp outside Cannocks on O’Connell Street were real gems.

Limerick Museum: Larger images 1 2

View from Mathew Bridge (1919)

These houses seem to be typical of the style built in the Englishtown / Irishtown i.e. roof ridges at right angles to the street so that each house presented a separate gable at the front. Alas all three now demolished.

See also Dutch Billy posts 1 2

The three buildings on the corner of Bridge Street and Merchant’s Quay form the backdrop, with part of the Potato Market at left of frame.

Royal Welch Fusiliers band, led by mascot, marching across Mathew Bridge. The far pavement has a crowd of people of all ages, either watching or moving away from the Cathedral.

Larger Image Limerick Museum

Am looking for an old aerial photograph of Thomondgate/Munchin’s Church from about 40 to 50 years ago if at all possible?

@justnotbothered wrote:

Am looking for an old aerial photograph of Thomondgate/Munchin’s Church from about 40 to 50 years ago if at all possible?

Sorry can’t locate the Limerick Museum online link for the original image.

That’s great Mike, thanks very much.

There is also a fine aerial shot of Clancy Strand and St. Munchin’s Church to be seen in Sean Curtin’s book Limerick ~ A Stroll Down Memory Lane (Vol. 4 page 19).

Below is an interesting image of Thomond Bridge before St. Munchin’s Church was built.

Limerick Museum online

Local Thomondgate man Pat Doran has written an interesting book (2008).

A Clune’s Lane Fisherman ~ Pat Doran

The life of ordinary working people is often not the content of history books. However this history is as important as the reign of kings or of great wars. But from the perspective of a local historian often this history is tragically lost and is not recorded for future generations. Pat Doran has however recorded his history, life and times.

This book is a unique contribution to the social history of Limerick, looking as it does at the life of dock labourers and of salmon fisherman on the Shannon estuary. Through the eyes of Pat Doran we can gain a better understanding of the Limerick that no longer exists. The fact that a working man like Pat has documented and recorded his life is a great achievement. As a local historian I can say it is crucial that Pat’s story, and the stories of men and women like him, should be recorded for future generations.

David Lee

Sean Curtin has also just published volume 8 of Limerick ~ A Stroll Down Memory Lane and volume 9 is well underway.

He plans in volume 10 a “then and now” issue which should reveal the changing face of the city.

He has done this already in volume 4 (page 100/101) with two panoramic shots of Harvey’s/Howley’s/Bishop’s/Steamboat Quays from the 1940’s and 2004.

Sean’s latest stroll down memory lane (Limerick Leader)

By Ger Fitzgibbon

THE eight volume of ‘Limerick – A Stroll Down Memory Lane’ by Sean Curtin has been launched by Mayor John Gilligan.

The latest volume of the immensely popular series of books, which chart the changing face of the city and county over the past century, was unveiled at a special reception in the Limerick Leader offices.

Mayor Gilligan described the book, which features such events as the 1938 City Grand Prix and the local effects of the 1973 petrol crisis, as a crucial window into our past: “People don’t realise just how fast this city changes. You never know where you’re going unless you know where you’ve come from. We’re one of the oldest cities in the country. Our heritage isn’t something that’s been dropped in here – it’s evolved over a millennium,” Mayor Gilligan said

The Editor of the Limerick Leader, Alan English, said that volume eight of the series was the finest edition to date: “Every page is a delight – I’m sure the book will be hugely popular, I can’t think of a better present to give anyone this Christmas. Sean Curtin’s contribution to Limerick life through his column every week in the Limerick Leader has been immense.”

Sean Curtin said that his love of history and local heritage has yet to waver: “You could say I live in the past. I still get a “wow factor” when I find a good old photograph. It’s extremely interesting for people who only have a fleeting interest in Limerick. Not necessarily in it’s history but in its changing face as well. Limerick has changed dramatically in the last 40 years. There were slums prior to that, and now it’s a wonderful city being built to face the river today.”

Mr Curtin said that volume eight took eleven months to put together. He added that volume nine is already well underway and is due to be launched next Christmas. Mr English, meanwhile, revealed that volume ten in the series will have a special ‘then and now’ format. “Sean has said that he plans to finish the series at book ten, but I sense his enthusiasm is such that he may not bow out for a long time to come,” Mr English said.

‘Limerick – A Stroll Down Memory Lane’ volume eight is available in all good book stores now.

@williams lane wrote:

Hi every one,i am a new member and just findin my feet,i am looking for old pictures of the Gerald griffin st aera before the trade electricl center was built,when the old houses and lanes were there.the lanes are named,(williams lane) witch is now the street leading on to summer st from the Gerald griffin side.Also (kerwicks bow) witch would have been right down the middle of the now trade electricl is now.

kind regards

Interesting request, I have been looking myself for images of that very area for sometime now (1900-1950’s).

I had a look on the Limerick Museum web site but found nothing visually on it. There is a picture taken from the spire of St John’s Cathedral in November 1950 showing the smouldering remains (fire) of the City Tannery. Brennan’s Row and some former houses on the now Trade Electrical site can be seen. See local parish book called “In the Shadow of the Spire” ~ Rev. W. Fitzmaurice / Kevin Hannan page 242.

Have a look at this aerial shot, Summer Street / Williams Lane can be seen. See link

P.S. if you do eventually get photographs of this area, do post them here.

Here one I found.

Just 1 or 2 items relating to a few topics discussed over in the main Limerick forum recently.

O Connell Street 1959

The photograph below was taken shortly after the fire that destroyed Todds department store and its subsequent demolition.

Saxone Shoes can be seen on the far right, this is the building that collapsed back in November 1986. At the time of the collapse a man was working on a refurbishment job on the top floor, amazingly he escaped serious injury!

The magnificent facade and landmark clock of Cannock’s department store can just about be seen in the background.:(

[url=“http://www.limerickcity.ie/Museum/image/1987/19870393.jpg”]Full Size Image[/url]

Trinity Church, Catherine Place, Limerick, 1950s

This former Episcopal Church was built in 1834. Designed by architect Joseph Fogerty, it was said to have one of the most ornate interiors in the city. The church was purchased by the former Mid Western Health Board in the late 60s or early 70s when the interior was gutted and converted to office use.

The 2 Georgian townhouses flanking the church were later altered and used for additional office space. To add insult to injury an attic structure has also been added spanning the three buildings!:rolleyes:

Today it is the headquarters of the HSE in the Mid-West.

Full Size Image

Christie’s London

William Turner de Lond (fl. c. 1820 – c. 1837)

A View from Bank Place, Limerick: the New Bridge and George’s Quay, with the County Court House and St. Mary’s Cathedral behind

pencil and bodycolour, watermark Strasburg lily 171/8 x 22¼ in. (43.6 x 56.6 cm.)

Estimate (£25,000 – £35,000 Sterling)

During his visit to Ireland in the early 1820s, Turner de Lond executed two known views of Limerick, one from the North Strand (sold Christie’s London, 10 July 1984, lot 175, now in the Limerick Museum) and the present watercolour.

Turner de Lond’s attention to detail, both generally and topographically, is remarkable. He has chosen to depict the streets filled with the hubbub of daily life, illustrating the variety of citizenry, from the women washing their clothes in the river to the ladies riding in the elegant horse-drawn landau in the centre of the watercolour. The carriage is traditionally believed to be that of Standish O’Grady, 1st Viscount Guillamore (1766-1840) who served as Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland for a number of years.

The topography of the view has also been painstakingly recorded providing an accurate depiction of the townscape of Limerick in the 1820s. The neo-classical building in the centre of the watercolour is the County Court House, built in 1809 with a portico added in 1814. Until 1760 a medieval wall ran alongside the river but was replaced by George’s Quay, visible in the present watercolour on the far side of the river, along which stood various shops and dwellings, a number of which were refaced with red-brick facades, one with a Dutch-style gable. To the right of the watercolour can be seen the tower of St. Mary’s Cathedral, the oldest building in Limerick, founded in 1168 and built on the site of a palace that was donated to the people of the city by Donal Mor O’Brien, King of Munster.

Glin Castle has placed this painting with Christies for sale on the 7th may 2009. Sign of the times I suppose but a must aquirement for the Limerick Museum! I posted this before and the confusing thing is that the Limerick Museum speak of the artist as being attributed to Samuel Frederick Brocas. :confused:

Well Limerick Museum have an advantage in that they can walk across the road and take another picture just the same. So they don’t really have to waste the taxpayers’ money on rubbish like this in an recession!

@CologneMike wrote:

Glin Castle has placed this painting with Christies for sale on the 7th may 2009. Sign of the times I suppose but a must aquirement for the Limerick Museum!

. . . or the National Gallery, fabulous painting, worth every penny, screw the recession!

Haven’t seen his view of Limerick from the ‘North Strand’, didn’t notice it on their web-site, anyone got a copy?

@rumpelstiltskin wrote:

Well Limerick Museum have an advantage in that they can walk across the road and take another picture just the same. So they don’t really have to waste the taxpayers’ money on rubbish like this in an recession!

Something’s gone over your head there rumpel !

@rumpelstiltskin wrote:

Well Limerick Museum have an advantage in that they can walk across the road and take another picture just the same.

Rumpelstiltskin, you are mixing up your museums, it is the Hunt Museum that is across the road on Rutland Street. The Limerick Museum is located on Castle Lane.

@rumpelstiltskin wrote:

So they don’t really have to waste the taxpayers’ money on rubbish like this in an recession!

Actually I was hoping some fairytale dwarf would come along and kick start his “spinning wheel” into action to fund this “rubbish” for us. :rolleyes:

@gunter wrote:

Haven’t seen his view of Limerick from the ‘North Strand’, didn’t notice it on their web-site, anyone got a copy?

This must be the one from the “North Strand” alas I find the detail to be somewhat on the blurred side.

Limerick Museum: see original

Painting, watercolour; a view of Limerick from across the Shannon, showing corner tower of the Castle St. Mary’s Cathedral, the Court House, and Custom House; several ships tied up against the Custom House and four angling cots on the foreground side of the River; in foreground left a boat is pulled onto the shore and two carts are servicing it; in the river are three women, washing clothes?; at right a group of people are gathered around a tree.

By William Turner De Lond 1767-1827.

Arthur’s Quay 1860 ~ Charles Mills

Though I never seen Mills painting of Arthur’s Quay, I believe the painting is impressive in size and that nice details are captured like for example a steam engine train travelling from Ennis in the background around the Long Pavement area (see circled above Thomond Bridge). Below the steam engine train crossing the Shannon at Long Pavement. I wonder where can one see this painting today?

Painting. Landscape. Arthur’s Quay, Limerick, c. 1860, by Charles Mills ARHA. Oil on canvas. Depicts the River Shannon with small boats around the quay, with King John’s Castle, Thomond Bridge and Clare Hills in background. Turf creels on quayside.. Frame has applied repeating pattern of applied foliate plaster ornament and is painted gold.

Limerick Museum: see originals 1 2

That Arthur’s Quay painting is interesting, it’s a pity the detail on the houses is so indistinct. When I was looking for photographs of this terrace I came across this detail of one of the houses showing flush windows again and a very fine Bank Place like door surround.

Also saw a copy of a photograph of that Bruce House doorway on Rutland Street, in it’s original setting (next house over), with moulded cills to the windows above!

Clearly quite a lot of early features were incorporated into the first phase of the new town expansion.

@CologneMike wrote:

Rumpelstiltskin, you are mixing up your museums, it is the Hunt Museum that is across the road on Rutland Street. The Limerick Museum is located on Castle Lane.

Actually I was hoping some fairytale dwarf would come along and kick start his “spinning wheel” into action to fund this “rubbish” for us. :rolleyes:

This must be the one from the “North Strand” alas I find the detail to be somewhat on the blurred side.

Limerick Museum: see original

I’m not mixing up my museums, I was exaggerating for effect. As I used to work in the Hunt Museum I’m perfectly aware of what it’s called and where it is.

Abbey River ~ Charlotte and George’s Quays ~ Samuel Brocas

The New Bridge, with St. Mary’s Cathedral and the Co. Court House in the background, as seen by Samuel Brocas (1792-1847), in 1820. In the right foreground is the Augustinian Church in Creagh Lane and Moll Darby’s fish market by the riverside.

Source Book Cover ~ Limerick Historical Reflections ~ Kevin Hannan (1996).

He infers ownership of this painting in his book to the Knight of Glin which in turn I presumed this to be the painting that is on sale at Christie’s. But this is not the case so I wonder who has ownership of it today?

The Georgian era in Limerick started here and thus I presume the source for naming of the quays after King George and his wife Queen Charlotte.

Sort of tangental but…………… I would be very pleased if anyone could show or point me in the direction of old photos/prints of the County Gaol.. I’m researching a hanging there in mid 1800’s, so one with the gallows would be great!
Thanks,
K.

@KerryBog2 wrote:

Sort of tangental but…………… I would be very pleased if anyone could show or point me in the direction of old photos/prints of the County Gaol.. I’m researching a hanging there in mid 1800’s, so one with the gallows would be great!
Thanks,
K.

Two books already mentioned here may give you some relevant information.

James Pain Architect ~ David Lee / Debbie Jacobs

The public competition to build the Limerick County Gaol was won by James Pain. There is a whole chapter just dealing with prisons in the book.

Limerick Historical Reflections ~ Kevin Hannan

Secondly in Kevin Hannan’s book there are two chapters on Hangmen (James Ryan and Marwood).

He wrote . . . . for some time after the building of the County Gaol, in 1821, executions were still carried out at Gallows Green (Cromwell Fort), in Singland. Executions were afterwards carried out in Mulgrave Street, outside the Gaol, much to the dissatisfaction of the Stretcher (Ryan), who is said to have observed: “ . . . . the green (Gallows Green) can hold a bigger crowd.” Evidently he was a man who like playing to the gallery.

Picture of main entrance of County Gaol where the public hangings would have taken place.

Thanks CM,
Much appreciated.
K.

Has anybody got any pictures of Cassidy’s Lane?….would love to see what it looked like!

@CologneMike wrote:

@KeepAnEyeOnBob wrote:

Some interesting photos here. I think I’ll have to put those Limerick historical photo books on my wishlist.

Indeed a lot of interesting stuff published over the years!

• University of Limerick A Celebration ~ Begley Hutton
• Dowd’s History Of Limerick ~ Cian O’Carroll
• Remembering Limerick ~ David Lee
• Georgian Limerick ~ David Lee / Bob Kelly
• Made in Limerick Volume 1 ~ David Lee / Debbie Jacobs
• James Pain Architect ~ David Lee / Debbie Jacobs
• Limerick 100 Stories of the Century ~ Denis O’Shaughnessy
• How’s your Father Stories of Limerick ~ Denis O’Shaughnessy
• Stories Of Limerick ~ Denis O’Shaughnessy
• Limerick Boycott 1904 ~ Dermot Keogh / Andrew McCarthy
• Father Browne’s Limerick ~ E.E. O’Donnell
• Last Word by the Listener ~ Seamus O’Cinneide / Eoin Devereux
• The Sieges and Treaty of Limerick ~ Frank Noonan
• The Hunt Museum ~ Helen Armitage
• The Pery Square Tontine ~ James McMahon
• From out of Limerick ~ Jeremiah Newman
• The Limerick Anthology ~ Jim Kemmy
• The Limerick Compendium ~ Jim Kemmy
• Limerick Journals ~ Jim Kemmy & Co.
• Limerick in old picture postcards ~ Jim Kemmy / Larry Walsh
• The Building of Limerick ~ Judith Hill
• Anatomy of a Siege 1642 ~ Kenneth Wiggins
• King John’s Castle ~ Kenneth Wiggins
• Limerick Historical Reflections ~ Kevin Hannan
• Limerick Soviet ~ Liam Cahill
• Through Irish Eyes ~ Malachy McCourt
• Angela’s Ashes ~ Frank McCourt
• The Government and the People of Limerick ~ Mathew Potter
• Remember Jim Kemmy ~ Paul O’Reilly
• St. John’s Cathedral Conservation Project ~ Rev. T. Mullins
• In the Shadow of the Spire ~ Rev. W. Fitzmaurice / Kevin Hannon
• Limerick a stroll down Memory Lane Volumes 1 – 7 ~ Sean Curtin
• Limerick Images of a changed city ~ Sean Reynolds / Tony Hartnett
• The History of Limerick City ~ Sean Spellissy
• Limerick In Old Photographs ~ Sean Spellissy
• Limerick The Rich Land ~ Sean Spellissy
• Shannon Airport ~ Valerie Sweeny
• Ireland’s Shannon Story ~ Brian Callanan
• The Shannon Scheme ~ Andy Bielenberg
• High Tension Life on the Shannon Scheme ~ Michael McCarthy
• Bunratty Castle & Historical Park
• Ferrars History Of Limerick

Here more interesting stuff of local interest. Most of it is new, some of it very old.

• Limerick Handbook of Local History ~ Coiste Oideachais Múinteoirí Luimnigh
• Made in Limerick Volume 2 ~ David Lee / Debbie Jacobs
• Images of Sarsfield Barracks; ~ Denis Carroll
• Kemmy’s Limerick Miscellany ~ Denis O’Shaughnessy
• The Cromwellian Settlement of the County of Limerick ~ James Grene Barry
• Limerick Journal Volumes 1 – 43 ~ Jim Kemmy & Co.
• The Diocese of Limerick Ancient and Medieval ~ Rev. John Begley C.C.
• The Diocese of Limerick 16th and 17th Centuries ~ John Canon Begley
• Limerick Street Antiquities ~ Limerick Civic Trust
• The First 25 Years 1983 – 2008 ~ Limerick Civic Trust
• The Limerick We Don’t See no.1-3 ~ Limerick Civic Trust
• Georgian Limerick Vol 2 ~ Limerick Civic Trust
• First Citizens Of The Treaty City ~ Matthew Potter
• Foynes Flying Boat Museum ~ Maureen O’Hara Blair
• History of Limerick ~ Maurice Lenihan
• The Castles of County Limerick ~ Michael J Carroll
• The Architectural Heritage of Limerick City ~ NIAH
• A Clune’s Lane Fisherman ~ Pat Doran
• The Shannon Navigation ~ Ruth Delany
• Limerick a stroll down Memory Lane Vol 8-9 ~ Sean Curtin
• The Abbey Fishermen ~ Sharon Clancy
• The 1654-56 Civil Survey of Limerick City and County ~ Simmington
• The Knights of Glin. Seven centuries of Change ~ Tom Donovan

I can’t place these houses, similar features to the Bank Place three, moulded cills, pretty consistent window height, but with tripartite key stones, anyone know where in Limerick they were? The houses flanking the lane on the near side seem to be three-storey, at most, and gable-fronted [Broad Street?]

. . . . my money’s on CologneMike, but Tuborg could be a dark horse 🙂

Broad Street ~ Campbell’s Bow

Bang on Gunter! That seems to be our Campbell’s Bow on Broad Street. See posts 243 and 242.

Clohesys No.11 appears also in post 348 on the right handside alas the link to the Getty-Images is not automatically displaying.

If it is not displaying then copy and paste the image link into your browser.

The no. of the shop M O’Donovan (your image) on the right is confusing . . . . it seems to be no. 10 but it should be no. 12?

• Limerick History and Society ~ Liam Irwin and Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh
• Limerick : Irish Historic Towns Atlas No 21 ~ Eamon O’Flaherty

See links for more book info 9780906602492 9781904890553

Recession or not, here another two quality books of local interest recently released. 😎

Hmmm . . . . Gunter, though I have yet to see them, I have a feeling that they could be still ignoring the tall Dutch-gabled houses built in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries around Limerick.

• Limerick 1651 Map and Booklet ~ John Elliott

Junior, how did the launch of this publication go? Where can one get a copy of it, as neither the Civic Trust nor O’Mahony’s have it listed on their web sites yet?

The most important publication on the city’s history since 1866 (Irish Examiner)

By Jimmy Woulfe Mid-West Correspondent

A MAJOR publication on the history of Limerick was launched in the city’s Georgian Quarter last night by Mayor Kevin Kiely.

Limerick, the newly published atlas in the Irish Historic Towns Atlas Series, features illustrations, plans and accounts of the city. The collection includes three Elizabethan maps from about 1590, which pre-date Dublin’s earliest known map by 20 years.

The lanes of Limerick so pertinent to Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes have long since disappeared, but are preserved in the atlas with unusual lane names of Spreadeagle, Scabby, Red Lion, White Wine or Bear Lane.

Laura Ryan of the Limerick Coordination office said: “If you ever wondered why the heart of Limerick city today is not centred on its historic foundations at St Mary’s Cathedral or what the city may have looked like with its walls intact, the answers are in the Atlas published by the Royal Irish Academy. It is part of a wider European scheme of over 460 towns and cities already published.”

Reproduced are 27 rare maps, and 12 views of the city from various repositories in Ireland and Britain.

Historian and University of Limerick lecturer Dr John Logan has described the Limerick Atlas as “the single most important publication on the history of the city since Lenihan’s history in 1866”. He added: “It changes the way we look at the city as a place of work and living and make us realise the city’s immense, but too often overlooked, potential and possibilities. Planners, historians, architects, teachers, students, and all well-informed citizens will all want to have a copy. It is, simply, indispensable.”

Author, and Limerick man, Dr Eamon O’Flaherty (UCD) spent years compiling topographical information from religious houses and the city’s defences to schools and administrative buildings.

Dr O’Flaherty said: “The majestic Shannon, which bred life to this Viking settlement, also offered artists a beautiful canvas to work from. The plan for the Georgian town, today’s O’Connell, Henry, and Thomas Streets etc, is clearly shown on the impressive Christopher Colles plan for the city drawn in 1769 and clearly shows the intention for a new town outside of the medieval walled city of Englishtown and Irishtown.”

Portrait of a city (Limerick Leader)

A fascinating new publication featuring paintings, sketches and the earliest detailed maps of Limerick will shed light on the development of the city and the events that shaped it, writes Jennifer Moore

HAVE you ever wondered why the heart of Limerick city today is not centred on its historic foundations at St Mary’s Cathedral as a Viking port in the tenth century?

Or why the city held such strategic importance in the seventeenth-century turmoil when Limerick citizens endured three sieges?

Or what the city may have looked like if its walls and gates were not taken down in the mid-eighteenth century?

The answers to all these questions, and more, can be found in the Royal Irish Academy’s latest publication, ‘Irish Historic Towns Atlas, No. 21, Limerick’ by Eamon O’Flaherty.

The publication offers a fascinating insight into the city’s development over the centuries and the major events that shaped it.

The atlas comes in two main parts: large loose sheets of maps and views of Limerick and a text section containing an essay describing the urban development of the city from its Viking foundations to the start of the 20th century.

Several thematic maps project Viking and medieval Limerick onto a modern map, pinpointing sites such as the original Viking longport near Athlunkard, the Frank House of Knight’s Templar, or the long since disappeared, St Nicholas’s Church.

There is also an extensive gazetteer of topographical information that breaks down into 22 sections that range from population, to the street names, factories, areas of primary production, hospitals, entertainment and residences, for example.

To accompany the text, and help bring Limerick’s urban history to life, there are 27 historical and reconstructed maps and 12 views and photographs of Limerick depicting its growth, shape and importance as a trading post and one of military significance.

This work on Limerick is the fruit of many years of research by author and Limerick man, Dr Eamon O’Flaherty, a former Crescent student who now lectures in UCD.

The atlas traces the complicated histories of Limerick’s three distinct urban cores: the Viking and Anglo-Norman Englishtown located on King’s Island; the medieval Irishtown off the axis of Broad Street and John Street; and the Georgian Newtown Pery where today’s city is concentrated.

Limerick is exceptionally well endowed in terms of illustrations, maps, plans and accounts of the city. The three earliest maps are from about 1590, pre-dating Dublin’s earliest known map by 20 years.

Each map, varying in style, captures Elizabethan Limerick and shows individual houses, gardens, as well as the defences and religious houses. The originals are to be found in Hunt Museum, Trinity College Dublin and the National Archives in London, so it is fascinating to be able to compare each of these cartographic wonders side by side.

Common to each is the characteristic hourglass shape of Limerick city that continues through to the late eighteenth century. On closer examination of the beautifully crafted Hardiman map (TCD), a windmill and a hound may be seen chasing a bird in Irishtown; such details as these will entrance history lovers.

When compared to the later eighteenth-century maps and plans, the development of the three urban cores in the city is quite apparent.

Other sources, such as the Civil Survey, commissioned by the Cromwellian government and completed in 1654, supplies the basis for a detailed reconstructed map of mid-seventeenth century Limerick.

It provides the reader with a snap shot of the city that highlights the different types of houses and cabins, and also positions the mills, forges and tan houses of early modern Limerick.

Much of the information from the early religious churches of the city have been taken from the famous Black Book of Limerick. It records churches such as St John’s dating back to 1200. The later thirteenth-century Dominicans, Augustinians and Franciscans built their substantial religious houses on the west side of King’s Island.

King John’s Castle has always featured prominently on the urban landscape of Limerick and has had many functions through its near 800 year history, and was even granted to the citizens for ten years in 1427.

The castle, while domineering at times, proved to be expensive for the crown to maintain with many enhancements added to it over the centuries, as it had to withstand many assaults, sieges and undermining.

The walls of Limerick, dating to c. 1175, have been vitally important to the protection of its citizens over the centuries. They were constantly being rebuilt, extended and strengthened up to the late seventeenth century when the city was famously besieged in 1690 and 1691.

Limerick was one of the last fortresses in Ireland to have its walls removed in the 1760s. The city was expanding and needed more space for its growing population.

It was at this point when a new town, adjacent to the medieval one, was planned out by Edmond Sexton Pery, a prominent politician.

He inherited vast tracts around the city and commissioned Christopher Colles to plan a new town on his land that became known as Newtown Pery.

This sparked a flurry of building on the grid system to specifications akin to the Georgian developments in Dublin and London, and still characteristic to Limerick today.

Important buildings, such as the Custom House (now the Hunt Museum), the Matthew Bridge and the canal were built on his land. All of which improved communication and transport to Newtown Pery.

Added incentives for people to move from Englishtown and Irishtown were lower taxes, better amenities, modern housing, drainage and entertainment facilities. The Newtown was even governed by a separate body for nearly 40 years, and Limerick became the second fastest growing city in Ireland after Belfast until about 1830.

In no other town in Ireland can the divide between medieval lanes and winding streets and the grid system be seen so clearly. Colles’s extraordinary plan of the city is reproduced in colour in the atlas and shows Limerick at the dawn of its greatest change – shifting the heart of the city from King’s Island to Pery’s land.

In terms of the various factories in the city, Limerick proved to be a bustling trading post. From mills dating back to 1,200 the city had countless granaries, stores and warehouses earning it the epithet ‘The granary of North Munster’.

The nineteenth century saw a number of bacon curing factories dotted around the city including Matterson’s and Shaw’s. Limerick also had many markets around the city, the first documented in 1108.

The printing trade is well represented in the city, the earliest known printer was established by 1673. However, it did not become a popular trade to enter until the later eighteenth century when large numbers of printers established newspapers and printing houses, notably on the corner of Bridge Street and Mary Street where John Ferrar’s Limerick Chronicle was founded in 1768, the Republic’s longest running newspaper. Indeed the Leader’s Office is recorded on a detailed insurance map of the city from 1897.

Longstanding Limerick institutions such as Cruises Hotel, and Todds and Cannock’s department stores feature in the atlas. Their histories are traced as drapery stores in the early nineteenth century to their expansive department stores by 1900.

In the entertainment section of the gazetteer, we learn of the numerous theatres, club houses and dance halls that were the social focal point for Limerick people from the eighteenth century.

The sporting element of the city was also present in the nineteenth century with numerous gymnasiums, tennis and ball courts, bicycle, athletics, rowing and tennis clubs all forming in the second half of the nineteenth century.

For more on the project see http://www.ria.ie/projects/ihta, or contact Irish Historic Towns Atlas,
Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2.

Irish Historic Towns Atlas, no. 21, Limerick by Eamon O’Flaherty is available in shops from the 6th of February and retails at €35.

Jennifer Moore is an editorial assistant with the Irish Historic Towns Atlas and also a Limerick historian.

.

• Limerick 1651 Map and Booklet ~ John Elliott

Junior, how did the launch of this publication go? Where can one get a copy of it, as neither the Civic Trust nor O’Mahony’s have it listed on their web sites yet?

I bought my copy of the map & booklet over Christmas for 40 euro by calling into the Bishops palace ( home of Limerick Civic trust) – worth every cent… I think there were only a 100 printed – phone call or an email them to see if they have some left..061 313 399 info@limerickcivictrust.ie

I also went along to a free lunchtime lecture in the Hunt Museum last Thursday – part of the launch of the Royal Irish Academy’s latest publication, ‘Irish Historic Towns Atlas, No. 21, Limerick’ by Eamon O’Flaherty. The author whizzed through 1000 years of Limerick’s urban development in the hour to a packed house…excellent stuff. The book..if you could call it a book is 35euro and is a must for anyone with any interest in Limerick building history.

Great to see Limerick City getting that level of historical attention
. . . . . . gunter will have a lot of reading to do to catch up I suspect.

@CologneMike wrote:

Hmmm . . . . Gunter, though I have yet to see them, I have a feeling that they could be still ignoring the tall Dutch-gabled houses built in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries around Limerick.

surely not. As soon as I get my hands on a copy, we’ll run it under the microscope and hold a bitching session, if needs be.

Well done CologneMike for identifying that 5 bay, early-Georgian, as 11 + 12 Broad Street:)

So this is essentially the same view

The Chinese shop at no. 12 looks like a total rebuild, but the red shop at no. 11 could well be the two storey remnant of the original structure.

Very interesting

@Griff wrote:

Limerick 1651 Map and Booklet ~ John Elliott

I think there were only a 100 printed . . . . . . . . worth every cent.

Griff, that is a very limited edition and by the sound of it, a collectors item already!

I mailed the good people at the Trust earlier on today, hopefully I’ll get a favourable reply.

Limerick : Irish Historic Towns Atlas No 21 ~ Eamon O’Flaherty

. . . . . . The author whizzed through 1000 years of Limerick’s urban development in the hour to a packed house…excellent stuff.

Great to read that a lot of people are very interested in their local history, that pool of interest should be tapped into, who knows what positive ideas could spring from them.

@gunter wrote:

So this is essentially the same view

The Chinese shop at no. 12 looks like a total rebuild, but the red shop at no. 11 could well be the two storey remnant of the original structure.

Very interesting

Also very depressing Gunter, after the exodus from the Irishtown lanes (1940-1960’s) to Garryowen, it would seem that the main thorough fares ( Mungret St. ,John St. ,Broad St.) just crumbled away. 🙁

It’s almost impossible to look back at old photos of Limerick without a sense of acute disappointment and a feeling of what might have been!

In this case it’s hard to believe that those images above are actually of Broad Street. Especially when you consider the dump that it is today! Back then the street looked strong and vibrant whereas now it’s pretty much dead! 🙁

Mike is spot on when he says that this general area fell into terminal decline with the exodus of residents in the 50s and 60s. Aerial photographs from the time show it looking a bit like a bomb site. Consequently very little of the original fabric remains. Which is unfortunate as we could have had a spine of streets stretching from William Street through to the Abbey River with a unique character and charm.

Instead the area was “redeveloped” dismally over the last 10-20 years in a thoroughly lazy, disjointed and haphazard manner! :rolleyes:

Just going off on a bit of a tangent here but, there is now a vast swathe of underdeveloped city centre land here. With a bit of ambition and vision it could be transformed into a brand new urban quarter. If we are serious about injecting life back into the city centre and making it a more attractive place for people to live, shop, socialise and just generally spend time in. We should be looking at underutilised areas like this and examining how they could be developed and how they could become better integrated into the city centre!

Have to agree – some of the cheapest nastiest rubbish built in the last 20 years has been on Mungret st/Broad st/John st… hard to believe these streets were the heart of the old Irish town.Ive been having a good look at the 1590 Hardiman colour map of Limerick thats included in the very excellent Historic Towns Atlas – Limerick ( 35euro , Hunt museum)…and those were the only real streets in the Irishtown… Today of the 3, Mungret st is the most neglected – perhaps the new market development will encourage renewal in the area… For all the negativity about the city centre,the one thing I love doing is going into the market on a Saturday morning… one wall of which marks the line of the city walls.
ps..Tuborg..your urban quarter area is close to the old Irish town – its missing the area over towards the hospital. Maybe this historic quarter needs a status that encourages growth and renewal.

@CologneMike wrote:

Griff, that is a very limited edition and by the sound of it, a collectors item already!

I mailed the good people at the Trust earlier on today, hopefully I’ll get a favourable reply.

Don’t hold your breath; I email them a few days ago about getting a copy but haven’t gotten a reply.

@Griff wrote:

ps..Tuborg..your urban quarter area is close to the old Irish town – its missing the area over towards the hospital. Maybe this historic quarter needs a status that encourages growth and renewal.

It’s just a rough, general sketch to give an idea of the extent of the area that could be improved. It could be tweaked plenty of ways to include many other streets, laneways etc.

I suppose one obvious addition would be Gerald Griffin Street as it links John’s Square to William Street. Again it has loads of untapped potential. There are a couple of vacant/derelict sites here that really need to be tackled. Improvements to the public realm are also badly needed as currently the street ts entirely dominated by traffic!

St John’s Square is of course meant to be getting a complete revamp although it’s all gone quiet on that front recently! I’ve heard there’s been a lot of objections to the removal of car parking from the square and also to the proposal to restrict the number of access points for traffic!

Hopefully those objections can be overcome because a more pedestrian friendly environment would certainly add to the attractiveness of the square!

@jimg wrote:

Don’t hold your breath; I email them a few days ago about getting a copy but haven’t gotten a reply.

Give them a call … I originally sent them an email which was not answered – I thought it was a one off but maybe they dont have the resources to reply to emails – you’d think it would be easier to click out a standard reply than answer a phone call !!

@jimg wrote:

Don’t hold your breath; I email them a few days ago about getting a copy but haven’t gotten a reply.

I can’t complain, as I usually give the email address “info@” to fob off pesky telephone marketing callers at work. 😉 I’ll try ringing them instead.

@Tuborg wrote:

It’s almost impossible to look back at old photos of Limerick without a sense of acute disappointment and a feeling of what might have been!

@Griff wrote:

Have to agree – some of the cheapest nastiest rubbish built in the last 20 years has been on Mungret st/Broad st/John st… hard to believe these streets were the heart of the old Irish town.

More disappointment on Mungret Street. 🙁

First image 28 Mungret Street. (Diagonally opposite Milk Market / Watergate Flats)

Second image 69-72 Mungret Street (To the right of Molyneux‘s Pub)

At least the Milk Market survived, as it went from a state of use to a state of decay and back to a state of restoration.

A few snippets from old aerial photography to document the demise of this portion of Irishtown.

Broad Street still largely intact c.1945

High Street, Mungret Street with Sean Heuston Place houses under construction c.1950

As above, from different angle

Broad Street area c.1965

High Street, Mungret Street & environs c.1965

Some excellent images of Limerick to be found in this online resource….Thought I’d make sure everyone knew of its existence…………

Last year, the National Library introduced an online service whereby 22,000 photographs from the Lawrence, Poole and Independent Newspapers collections were added to its website database.

Since then, library staff have digitised an additional 12,000 images from five other important National Photographic Archive collections: Eason, Stereo Pair, Clarke, Tempest and Keogh.

The 34,000 photographs of Ireland, all relating to the period 1860 to 1954, can be viewed online at http://www.nli.ie/digital-photographs.aspx .

@bonzer1again wrote:

Some excellent images of Limerick to be found in this online resource….Thought I’d make sure everyone knew of its existence…………

Last year, the National Library introduced an online service whereby 22,000 photographs from the Lawrence, Poole and Independent Newspapers collections were added to its website database.

Since then, library staff have digitised an additional 12,000 images from five other important National Photographic Archive collections: Eason, Stereo Pair, Clarke, Tempest and Keogh.

The 34,000 photographs of Ireland, all relating to the period 1860 to 1954, can be viewed online at http://www.nli.ie/digital-photographs.aspx .

It is indeed an excellent resource! I meant to post some images a while back but never got around to it! Here are a few I picked out anyway.

They all appear to be from the early year’s of the 20th Century. Needless to say Limerick looked a far more elegant and prosperous place back then. It’s hard to believe it’s the same city in many respects! 🙁

Cruises Hotel

Cannock’s Department Store (Never seen a shot from this angle before!)

Cannock’s & McBirney’s Department Stores

O’Connell Street from Cecil Street junction

Old Augustinian Church on O’Connell Street

A couple more…

Rutland Street & Patrick Street

The Crescent

Munster & Leinster bank, The Medical Hall & Royal George Hotel

O’Connell Street, from above Cecil Street

Tuborg: could you possibly zoom in on the area above Baal’s Bridge in the first and fourth of your aerial photos, and post the results? There is some detail of interest to me in my continuing search for information about the Limerick Navigation. Thanks in advance.

bjg

• Bygone Limerick ~ Hugh Oram (The City and County in Days Gone by ) 9781856356794
• The Battle for Limerick City ~ Padraig Og O Ruairc (Military History of the Irish Civil War series) 9781856356756

Two more new historical books out soon, which should provide interesting photo material of Limerick circa 90-100 years ago. 🙂

An Irishman’s Diary Irish Times

Hugh Oram

IT ALL BEGAN with an almost throwaway remark by George Stacpoole, the antiques specialist from Adare, Co Limerick. He’s the head of the Irish Antique Dealers Association and I’ve known him for years. One day, he said to me that he had lots of old photographs of Adare, suggesting they might make a book.

Simple as that, the beginnings of a long quest that is finally completed, with the publication due in April of my next book, Bygone Limerick , with many photographs taken 100 years ago. I’ve known and written about Limerick, city and county, for years, but researching this book introduced me to wonderful people I’d never met previously and I heard many intriguing stories.

I soon discovered a veritable network of people, each a passionate expert on the history of their own locality: John Cussen from Newcastle West; John Harrold from Bruree; Noel Collins from Kilmallock; Tony Browne from Limerick city; Tom Keogh of the city museum, with his personal collections of thousands of old picture postcards; Frank O’Connor, an expert on Limerick’s postal history; Michael F O’Sullivan, the creamery historian from Hospital; Fr Mark Tierney, that prodigious historian from Glenstal, and Vincent Browne, a thoroughly unlikely altar boy :p in his native Broadford, Co Limerick.

Introductions to other people were equally rewarding. From Lady Vivienne Lillingston of Kilmallock, I found that her husband, Allan, rode a one-eyed horse called Winning Fair, to victory in the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle in 1963.

Other curious historical facts came to light from the time of the War of Independence and Civil War. I was told about Tomás Malone, whose nom de guerre was Seán Ford, head of the old IRA in east Limerick. He was able to travel around the county with impunity, never discovered, because he was good friends with a judge, O’Callaghan Westropp, who had an Armstrong-Siddeley car with a capacious boot. He was never asked to open it for inspection.

Peter Tait, commemorated by the Tait Memorial Clock in Limerick city centre, had extraordinary business achievements in Limerick. He arrived in the city in the early 19th century from his native Shetland Islands as a penniless orphan and he began his career in the city as a pedlar. He went on to invent the notion of mass production clothes, with the same principles that Henry Ford applied to car production. This notion made Tait a fortune.

The last business venture in his life was a cigarette factory in northern Greece, which failed. His life ended, almost penniless, in a desolate hotel room in what was then southern Russia, now part of Georgia.

On the contemporary side, Denis Leonard, the driving force behind the Limerick Civic Trust, was enormously encouraging as soon as I approached him. The trust has done much restoration in Limerick in recent years. Sadly, he died at a comparatively young age, at the end of last year.

I also discovered all about Seán Ó Riada’s father, who was the garda sergeant in Adare for 28 years. At weekends, when he went to sit on a wall at the top of the town at 2.30am, all the local publicans knew it was time to shut up shop. During the week, he used a special knock on the doors of local pubs late at night; 20 minutes later, he would go in and find the place miraculously empty. Adare never had any “found-ons” in his time!

Another great personality I unearthed was John Enright, who made fishing rods in Castleconnell, just outside Limerick city. In the late 19th century, the runs of salmon on the Shannon at Castleconnell were vast and the Enright rods were so well regarded around the world that Tsar Nicholas II of Russia once declared that he would use none other. The opening of the Ardnacrusha hydro-electric dam and power station on the Shannon in 1929 finished the glory days of fishing at Castleconnell.

Just over a decade later, the ferry across the Shannon here ended when a bridge was built; I found that one of the ferrymen became blind in later life, but was able to navigate the Shannon with unerring accuracy.

Someone else I heard much about was the late Tommy Bowen, who by day worked in a hardware shop in Kilmallock. He was a walking encyclopedia of genealogical and historical information about the medieval town and did much to keep the town museum going.

The places, too, that came up in my research were amazing: the old bacon factories in Limerick, the Cleeves dairy factories and the short-lived soviets in Limerick, Bruree and elsewhere. One day, a friend of mine in Dublin, Denis Bergin, asked me whether I’d heard of Limerick’s hanging gardens. I hadn’t, but soon found out that a Limerick banker, William Roche, in the early 19th century, had constructed vast roof-top hanging gardens in the centre of the city that were the talk of the populace. I also discovered that Roche had managed to survive the great banking crash of 1820, an event which surely proves that much history merely runs in an endless loop.

Of all the century-old photographs used in the book, those that most captured my imagination were those of Adare and all its thatched cottages.

The streets are absolutely deserted, not a car in sight, just the odd pony and trap. For anyone who has done what I’ve done recently, driven through Adare to try to find a parking space, it was a salutary lesson.

Bygone Limerick is published by Mercier Press, Cork, next month.

Old Bear Inn ~ 1640

Reminiscences of old Limerick by Ernest H. Bennis, 1951Book

Broad Street, once a leading and prosperous thoroughfare, contains a well chiselled archway, formerly the entrance to the “Old Bear Inn”, having on the keystone the inscription “Pierse Creagh 1640, rebuilt by John Creagh 1767”.

Looking at those pictures is heartbreaking, to say the least. Everybody still alive who ever sat on Limerick City Council should be shot.

@Griff wrote:

the very excellent Historic Towns Atlas – Limerick

Yes it is – worth every penny. They have them in Hodges Figgis.

RE: Old Bear Inn ~ 1640
Reminiscences of old Limerick by Ernest H. Bennis, 1951Book
Broad Street, once a leading and prosperous thoroughfare, contains a well chiselled archway, formerly the entrance to the “Old Bear Inn”, having on the keystone the inscription “Pierse Creagh 1640, rebuilt by John Creagh 1767”.

Here’s a nice photograph of the Old Bear Inn, no. 29&30 Broad Street now unfortunately demolished along with most of the western side of Broad St. Nice squat-two story dutch-billy, the original pitch of the gable end is clearly evident in the brickwork. The site was fully excavated in the late 1980’s prior to re-development however the inscribed plaque went missing at this time, probably on someones mantelpiece.

Old Bear Inn 29-30 Broad Street (Western Side of Street) ?

Your source is definitely at odds with what I found on the Limerick Museum / City Library sites as they position the Old Bear Inn to be on the other side of the street i.e. eastern side. Attached is a close up image of that stone of arms with C E M / 1712 inscribed on it. Any chance you reference the source of your information on 29-30 Broad Street?

Old Bear Inn 11-12 Broad Street (Eastern Side of Street) ?

The following sources would indicate it to have been located on the eastern side of the street.

In Broad Street, the Keystone of the arch of what was formerly the “Old Bear Inn,” has the inscription – Built in 1640 by Piers Creagh; rebuilt 1767, by John Creagh.

Lecture on Old Limerick – Rev. J. Dowd, M.A. PDF Page 5 (City Library)

The site of “Old Bear Inn” was marked by the letter Y in an adapted H.G. Leask’s 1941 Map. (City Library)

Photograph, print. Limerick City. Curry Lane, behind Broad St, showing rear of four houses including the Bear Inn. Foreground, boys, horse and cart, cottage behind. (Limerick Museum)

Photograph, b/w print. Ernest Bennis with a dog on a lead, looking at bow-way in Broad Street; the ends of shop fronts on either side have numbers 11 and 12; cobbled street in foreground. Reverse inscribed “Ernest H. Bennis/ Limerick” in blue ball-point and “Old Bear Inn” in black ink. (Limerick Museum)

Here is a nice peep of Broad Street circa 1650.

The largest grey building (six windows) in the image below was Piers Creagh’s House.

Larger image

I had a quick look on my PC and all I found was this 1920s street view, where Todds is the 7th building on the left.

I will have another look later.

best image of the old todds that I could find, from ‘stroll down memory lane’ vol 1 by sean curtin. I’ve a few other images taken from further up o’connell st but none that show the facade as clearly

Same source as Junior above, Vol 6.

Quality is unfortunately poor.

Cruise’s Royal Hotel ~ O’Connell Street (Georges Street)
Royal George Hotel ~ O’Connell Street (Georges Street)
Munster & Leinster Bank ~ O’Connell Street (Georges Street)
Quin’s Hall ~ Patrick Street / Ellen Street
The Façade of the Glentworth Hotel ~ Catherine Street / Glentworth Street
The two buildings below McBirneys on Sarsfield Street (Brunswick Street)

See link http://www.memorylanelimerick.com/p841706627/h2F047A08#h2f047a08

You could probably add the old city courthouse to that list too. Demolished in 1988 to facilitate the construction of the new City Council headquarters. There was no reason why it could not have been incorporated in to that development. It would have served perfectly well as the main entrance.

Of course there are amble examples in Limerick given the legacy of shameful failure to protect the citys architectural heritage.

It’s pretty inexplicable really that a decision to permit the demolition of such an historical institution as Cruise’s hotel could be handed down as late as 1991! It was a city landmark for 200 years and the fact that its replacement was obsolete less than 20 years after construction is only a further indictment of that decision!

It should still be a focal point of the city centre today.It could have been refurbished and extended to ensure its continued viability. Looking at old aerial imagery and the vast swathe of buildings to the rear of the hotel that were cleared to redevelop the site. It seems Todd’s Row in particular was lined with bonded warehouse like structures. Again why couldn’t these have been preserved and refurbished? Doubtless it would have made for a far more interesting little space than the current arrangement. A far more targeted and balanced redevelopment of derelict sites on Denmark Street should also have been progressed instead of the small scale rubbish that was constructed!

I would love to see some interior shots of Cruise’s hotel. Does anyone here remember what it was like? Was it particularly grand or elaborate? It was before my time.

The Hunt Museum is holding an excellent exhibition on the physical development of Limerick through maps and paintings and photos. It’s very interesting and I would have loved to have been talked through it by an expert. Especially about all of the star forts that used to exist around the city. Do they still exist under the streets?