Discovering Limerick

Day One

 If you were visiting an unknown place for just six hours, how would you choose what to experience?

In 2016 when I travelled the entire coastline of mainland Britain in 80 days, I rarely went to Tourist Information  to ask what to see. I asked random locals such as a traffic warden in Scarborough who gave me a wonderful itinerary. 

Today I did the same. I asked a woman in the carpark. Weirdly she gave me a list of shops including Debenhams which, like England, closed two years ago. She did tell me where the best loos were however. 

Instead I found Gary, the security guard in Brown Thomas Department store on O’Connell Street and a lovely lady on a makeup counter who gave me a great day out in their city

A Riverside walk leading to St. John’s Castle 

Then onto The Hunt Museum where I discovered a bevy of very creative students from Limerick College of Makeup working on fantasy models. 

The Hunt Museum was amazing as it houses objects from all over the world and is the legacy of the Hunt Family. It was a Cabinet of Curiosities. 

Outside was a collection of woven stars representing protests against violence against women.

Next on my itinerary was St Mary’s Cathedral founded in 1168AD on the site of a Viking thingmote (meeting place) and later the palace of the O’Brien Kings of Thomond

Limerick has a some great street art

And a wonderful city Gallery in The Peoples’ Park. They sent me to The Peoples’  Museum a Georgian House in Pery Square carefully restored to Georgian times and run by the Limerick Civic Trust. Fortunately I was the only person there so I had a one to one guided tour with John and it was fascinating how much history he could tell me about Limericks colourful past including all the background to the book Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt about growing up in Limerick in the 49’s and then emigrating to America like so many Irishmen and women. 

Before I left,  I managed to call back to Brown Thomas department store to thank my ‘tour organisers.’