Place:Limerick, County Limerick, Republic of Ireland

Watchers


NameLimerick
Alt namesLuimneachsource: Wikipedia
TypeCity
Coordinates52.667°N 8.633°W
Located inCounty Limerick, Republic of Ireland     (800 - )
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Limerick is a city in Ireland. It is located in the Mid-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. Limerick City Council is the local authority for the city. The city lies on the River Shannon, with the historic core of the city located on King's Island, which is bounded by the Shannon and the Abbey River. Limerick is also located at the head of the Shannon Estuary where the river widens before it flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Limerick is the third most populous city in the state, and the fifth most populous city on the island of Ireland. In 2012, it was announced that Limerick would be Ireland’s first National City of Culture in 2014, with a number of events due to take place in the city over the year.

Contents

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Ancient history

Luimneach originally referred to the general area along the banks of the Shannon Estuary known as Loch Luimnigh. The earliest settlement in the city, Inis Sibhtonn, was the original name for King's Island during the pre-Viking and Viking eras. This island was also called Inis an Ghaill Duibh, The Dark(haired) Foreigner's Island. The name is recorded in Viking sources as Hlymrekr.

The city dates from 812 which is the earliest provable settlement ; however, history suggests the presence of earlier settlements in the area surrounding King's Island, the island at the historical city centre. Antiquity's map-maker, Ptolemy, produced in 150 the earliest map of Ireland, showing a place called "Regia" at the same site as King's Island. History also records an important battle involving Cormac mac Airt in 221 and a visit by St. Patrick in 434 to baptise a Eóganachta king, Carthann the Fair. Saint Munchin, the first bishop of Limerick died in 652, indicating the city was a place of some note. In 812 the Vikings sailed up the Shannon and pillaged the city, burned the monastery of Mungret but were forced to flee when the Irish attacked and killed many of their number. The Normans redesigned the city in the 12th century and added much of the most notable architecture, such as King John's Castle and St Mary's Cathedral.

In early medieval times Limerick was at the centre of the Kingdom of Thomond which corresponds to the present day Mid West Region however, the Kingdom also included North Kerry and parts of South Offaly. One of the kingdom's most notable kings was Brian Boru, ancestor of the O'Brien Clan of Dalcassians. The word Thomond is synonymous with the region and is retained in place names such as Thomondgate, Thomond Bridge & Thomond Park.

Late Renaissance/Early Modern history

During the civil wars of the 17th century the city played a pivotal role, besieged by Oliver Cromwell in 1651 and twice by the Williamites in the 1690s. The Treaty of Limerick ended the Williamite war in Ireland which was fought between supporters of the Catholic King James II (Jacobites) and the Protestant King William of Orange (Williamites). The treaty offered toleration to Catholicism and full legal rights to Catholics that swore an oath of loyalty to William and Mary. The Treaty was of national significance as it ensured closer British and Protestant dominance over Ireland. The articles of the Treaty protecting Catholic rights were not passed by the Protestant Irish Parliament but rather updated the Penal Laws against Catholics which had major implications for Irish history. Reputedly the Treaty was signed on the Treaty Stone, an irregular block of limestone which once served as a mounting block for horses. This stone is now displayed on a pedestal at Clancy Strand. Because of the treaty, Limerick is sometimes known as the Treaty City. This turbulent period earned the city its motto: Urbs antiqua fuit studisque asperrima belli (An ancient city well studied in the arts of war).

The peace times that followed the turmoil of the late 17th Century allowed the city to prosper through trade in the late 18th century. During this time Limerick Port established itself as one of Ireland's major commercial ports exporting agricultural produce from one of Ireland's most fertile areas, the Golden Vale to Britain and America. This increase in trade and wealth saw a rapid expansion of the city as Limerick took on the appearance of a Georgian City. It was during this time that the city centre took on its present day look including the extensive terraced streets of fine Georgian townhouses which remain in the city centre today. The Waterford and Limerick Railway linked the city to the Dublin-Cork railway line in 1848 and to Waterford in 1853. The opening of a number of secondary railways in the subsequent decades developed Limerick as a regional centre of communications. However, the economic downturn in the European conflicts of the French Revolution and Napoleonic eras, and following the Act of Union 1800, and the impact of the Great Irish Famine of 1848 caused much of the 19th Century to be a more troubled period.

20th century history

During the Irish War of Independence, the Limerick Soviet was a self-declared soviet that existed from 15 to 27 April 1919. A general strike was organised by the Limerick Trades and Labour Council, as a protest against the British army's declaration of a "Special Military Area" under the Defence of the Realm Act, which covered most of Limerick city and a part of the county. During the strike a special strike committee was set up to print their own money, control food prices and publish newspapers.

By the mid 20th Century, Limerick was characterised by economic stagnation and decline as many traditional industries closed or left the city however there were some success stories. In 1942 Shannon International Airport (located 20 km west of the city) opened for the first time offering transatlantic flights. In 1959, Shannon Airport enabled the opening of the Shannon Free Zone which attracted a large number of multinational companies to the region. A long campaign for a third level educational institute to be located in the city finally borne fruit with the establishment of NIHE Limerick in 1969 which eventually became the University of Limerick in 1989.

Research Tips

Records

Directories

The Limerick City Council has indexed 60,000 records from various city directories which can be searched online.

Date Title/Link Author Printer/Publisher Printer Location
Directories covering Limerick City
1769 The Limerick Directory, Containing Accurate and Complete Lists of All the Persons in Commission, Office, Employment or Business in the City Ferrar, John Printed by John Ferrar Limerick
1788 A General Directory of the Kingdom of Ireland 1788 Lucas, Richard
1809 Holden's Triennial Directory, 1809 Holden
1814 A Directory to the Market Towns, Villages, Gentlemen's Seats and other Noted Places in Ireland Leet, Ambrose Printed by Brett Smith, 46, Mary Street Dublin
1816 Holden's Directory Holden
1824 Pigot & Co., City of Dublin and Hibernian Provincial Directory 1824 Pigot J. Pigot & Co. Manchester
1838 Deane's Limerick Almanack, Directory and Advertiser 1838 Deane, E. E. Deane Rutland St. Limerick
1840 The New Triennial & Commercial Directory, for the years 1840, 41 & 42, of the cities of Limerick, Waterford & Kilkenny F. Kinder & Son Limerick
1846 Slater's Directory of Munster
1856 Slater's Directory
1866 Bassett
1867 Henry & Coghlan's General Directory of Cork for 1867, with which is incorporated Wynne & Co.'s Business Directory of the Principal Towns in the Province of Munster Henry & Coghlan Cork
1870 Slater's Directory of Ireland 1870 Slater, Isaac Manchester
1875 Bassett's Directory of the City and County of Limerick, 1875-6 Bassett, William William Bassett, George Street Limerick
1877 The Limerick Directory and Principal Towns in the County of Limerick 1877-8 Bassett, William William Bassett, Cecil Street Limerick
1879 Bassett's Limerick City Directory and County Gazetteer Bassett
1880 Limerick City & County and Principal Towns of Clare, Tipperary and Kerry Directory 1880-1 Bassett, William Limerick
1884 The Limerick City & County, Etc., Etc., Directory, 1884 Bassett, William Limerick
1886 Francis Guy's Directory of Munster: Comprising the Counties of Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford Guy, Francis
1891 Ashe's Directory of Limerick and Clare 1891-92


Patriot's Handbook




This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Limerick. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
{"cc_re__cc_re__cc_by_sa_3_0": ["ipedia:Main_Page\">Wikipedia</a></b>. The original content was at <b><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limerick\" class=\"extiw\" title=\"wikipedia:Limerick\">Limerick</a></b>. The list of authors can be seen in the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Limerick&amp;action=history\" class=\"external text\" title=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Limerick&amp;action=history\" rel=\"nofollow\"><b>page history</b></a>. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" class=\"external text\" title=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License</a>.\n</td></tr></table>\n\n<!-- Saved in parser cache with key wikidb:pcache:idhash:195185-0!1!0!0!!en!2 and timestamp 20141023204247 -->\n<div class=\"printfooter\">\nRetrieved from \"<a href=\"http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Place:Limerick%2C_County_Limerick%2C_Republic_of_Ireland\">http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Place:Limerick%2C_County_Limerick%2C_Republic_of_Ireland</a>\"</div>\n               <a name=\"bottom\" id=\"bottom\"></a>\n               <div id=\"catlink", "div>\n<div class=\"visualClear\"></div>\n<div id=\"wr-footer\">\n\t<div id=\"wr-footer-bg\"></div>\n   <div id=\"wr-poweredby\">\n      <div id=\"f-poweredbyico\"><a href=\"http://www.mediawiki.org/\"><img src=\"/w/skins/common/images/poweredby_mediawiki_88x31.png\" alt=\"MediaWiki\" /></a></div>   </div>\n   <div id=\"wr-footer-content\">\n\t\t<ul id=\"f-list\">\n      <ul>\t\t\t\t   <li id=\"lastmod\"> This page was last modified 02:25, 1 March 2014.</li>\n            </ul><ul>\t\t\t\t   <li id=\"copyright\">Text is available under the <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License</a>; additional terms may apply. See <a href=\"http://werelate.org/wiki/WeRelate:Terms_of_Use\">Terms of Use</a> for details.</li>\n            </ul><ul>\t\t\t\t   <li id=\"privacy\"><a href=\"/wiki/WeRelate:Privacy_policy\" title=\"WeRelate:Privacy policy\">Privacy policy</a></li>\n            \t\t\t\t   <li id=\"about\"><a href=\"/wiki/WeRelate:About\" title=\"WeRelate:About\">About WeRelate</a></li>\n            \t\t\t\t   <li id=\"disclaimer\"><a href=\"/wiki/WeRelate:Genera"], "copyright__copyright__copyright": ["", "1884 Bassett, William Limerick\n1886 Francis Guy's Directory of Munster: Comprising the Counties of Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford Guy, Francis\n1891 Ashe's Directory of Limerick and Clare 1891-92\n\n\nPatriot's Handbook\n\n\n\n\nThis page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Limerick. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License."]}