Where to Stay in Limerick, Munster

What is Limerick known for?

Limerick is western Ireland's third city. It sits in County Limerick within the province of Munster, the third-most populous urban area in Ireland and the fourth-most populous on the island. The city is known for its Georgian streets, likened to a miniature Dublin, and for the medieval waterfront where King John's Castle and the Treaty Stone stand above the Shannon.

It makes a base for the surrounding county and for County Clare and County Tipperary next door.

What are the main landmarks in Limerick?

King John's Castle is Limerick's signature building. The Norman fortress stands on the Shannon at the heart of the old walled city, its round towers a set-piece of the medieval river frontage. Nearby the Treaty Stone marks the 1691 surrender that ended the siege of the city.

The Hunt Museum and the Limerick City Gallery of Art hold its collections, while the Daniel O'Connell Monument and Saint Michael's Catholic Church mark the Georgian streets beyond.

What is the history of Limerick?

Limerick was founded by Scandinavian settlers in 812, during the Viking Age. The Norse raised their settlement at the lowest crossing point of the Shannon in western Ireland, on the island where the water could be forded and guarded. Vikings held it.

Their riverside base grew into a walled trading town that the Normans later seized and fortified, building the great castle that still carries the name of King John above the water. The medieval city became one of the most fought-over on the island. Its walls, its bridges, and its island quarter made it a prize, and the Treaty Stone by the Shannon commemorates the 1691 surrender that ended the long siege of the town and sent the defeated to exile.

In the following century the ordered Georgian streets rose south of the old walls, giving Limerick the miniature-Dublin cast that still marks the centre. From a Viking ford on the Shannon the city grew into the third-most populous urban area in Ireland, seat of County Limerick within Munster.

Where is Limerick?

Limerick stands on the Shannon in western Ireland. The city occupies the lowest fording point of the river, at the head of its long estuary in County Limerick, within the province of Munster and the Mid-West of the Southern Region. Its old core sits on an island in the Shannon where King John's Castle guards the water, and County Clare lies just across the river to the north while County Tipperary borders the county to the east.

What is the climate of Limerick?

Limerick has the mild, damp weather of Ireland's Atlantic west. The Shannon estuary carries ocean air inland to the city, keeping winters cool rather than cold and summers mild and green. Rain blows in often off the Atlantic.

It arrives off the Atlantic across County Clare and the western county through much of the year, borne on the prevailing south-westerly winds that keep the air soft and grey. The wide estuary tempers the extremes, so hard frost and lasting snow are rare.

How do you get to Limerick?

Limerick sits at the road and rail crossing of the Shannon. The city is the hub of the Mid-West, linked by motorway and rail toward Dublin to the east and Cork to the south in the province of Munster. County Clare lies just across the river to the north, and County Tipperary borders the county to the east, so the surrounding country is within an easy drive.

Rail and bus services run into the centre near the old Georgian streets.