Citizen Wheel Travel for the Anti-Tourist

Limerick? It’s Barely a City

Overview: When people return home from Ireland, they spread a lot of enthusiasm about their time in Dublin or Galway, or the quaint village of Ballygobackward, but Limerick...? It's barely a city, with a population of around 85,000, and seems best known for being dreary, damp, and violent. Well. Those people do have a point.

Situated on the Shannon estuary, Limerick is twenty minutes from Shannon Airport. Every second transatlantic flight is forced to stop at Shannon, and hence Limerick attracts a fair number of jetlagged American tourists, wandering bemusedly around clutching their copy of "Angela's Ashes". Like all of Ireland, Limerick has had some serious redevelopment of late, with the city centre, docks, and riverfront getting a facelift. The usual suspects in big name stores are moving in, and glass and modern architecture is creeping down the riverfront. This will make Limerick look like any other city in Ireland (well, all five of them). Limerick is possibly the last Irish city to receive a makeover. Hence, there are still fine old Georgian buildings around, even if some are definitely crumbling away.

Most over-used phrase outside of Limerick: "It's Stab City! Why do you want to go there anyway?" Limerick has complained about this nickname for over a decade, and people from the other, arguably, more violent cities of Dublin and Cork will tell you to stay away. Limerick has its share of violence all right, but to the visitor it's the usual muggings, drunks, and traveling gangs of hoodies that you need to look out for. Limerick's worst violence is a result of the gang wars, drug lords, and generations-long feuds between families. The last couple of years alone have seen kidnappings and executions, retaliatory kidnappings and executions, kidnappings and executions to retaliate against the last round of retaliatory kidnappings and executions. And so on. If they keep it up, there'll be no one left. Oh, did I mention the city has a lot of stabbings? It didn't get that nickname for nothing.

Most over-used phrase inside of Limerick: "We're not feckin' Stab City! Why do you want to come here anyway?"

Parts of Town: The city centre has the best pubs and clubs and interesting areas; the suburbs are pretty quiet, unless you count the scangers fighting in the housing estates. The city is divided into three areas by the Shannon River, and connected by bridges. You can walk around and see the long rows of Georgian buildings, the charity shops, the Euro shops, and of course, the pubs.

Pubs and Clubs: A good date pub is The Locke Bar on George's Quay, which has a bistro as well as the bar. Nancy Blake's, on Denmark Street is a tiny pub with a good atmosphere and a young crowd. The proprietor, Nancy, used to refuse to serve pints to ladies. Luckily, that's changed, and most Limerick women can put away the pints with the best of them. W.J. South's on O'Connell Street is best known for being the place that Frank McCourt had his first pint in "Angela's Ashes", but it's a grand old bar in its own right.

For clubs, try the Market Night Club in Robert Street, or the Trinity Rooms on Michael Street, which attracts a very young crowd, if you know what I mean.

Music Scene: For alternative music, try Costello's Tavern on Dominick Street, or upstairs at Riddler's on Sarsfield Street. A great place with a good atmosphere, which gets good bands almost nightly, is Dolan's Warehouse on the Dock Road. It can get extremely crowded on the weekends though.

Gay Play: Limerick's gay scene is much less visible than that of Dublin or Galway. Dolan's hosts the Alternative Miss Limerick competition in October. Dolan's also has Club Boutique, a gay disco, upstairs a couple of Saturdays a month. There's a monthly gay nightclub, in the Glentworth Hotel in Glentworth Street.

Getting Medicated: Getting drugs in Limerick isn't difficult, although recent Garda crackdowns (do they intend the pun?) has tightened things up a bit. Around the nightclubs is still your best bet, but which one varies according to the staff on duty at the time. For hash, try asking students on any of the college campuses. When you get a no, ask if they know of anyone, and you'll probably get a number to call.

Literary Stuff: Limerick has nothing to do with limericks. The city's name comes from the Gaelic for "vulnerable land", referring to the area outside the original defended Viking settlement.

"Angela's Ashes", a best-selling book by Frank McCourt is Limericks' most recent claim to literary fame. But the book is hugely unpopular with locals, many of whom claim that Frank lied, exaggerated, and deliberately set out to portray the city in a bad light. You can take a walking tour of the places mentioned in the book, although most of it now consists of things like "where that glass office building now stands, there used to be a decrepit building where Frank McCourt lost his virginity."

The Obvious Tourist Attractions: King John's Castle, built in 1210, is a fortified stone castle is on King's Island, in the heart of the city, although to reach it you have to travel through one of the roughest parts of town. Parts of the city walls, including two of the gates, are still standing. The longest section is by St John's Churchyard. The treaty ending the long siege of 1691 was ended when both sides signed a lump of rock. This Treaty Stone now stands on a plinth at Thomond Bridge, near King John's Castle.

Food: The Wild Onion, on High Street, Market Quarter, calls itself an American bakeshop and café. It's a good place for breakfast or lunch, with huge portions. Poppadoms in Robert Street does great Indian food (they're in Dublin now as well). Best greasy chipper is Donkey Fords.

Outdoor Activities: Little beats sitting outside the Locke Bar on George's Quay on a sunny afternoon. Buy a pint and stare over the Abbey River. Of course, half of Limerick is doing the same, so it gets crowded. All sorts go to Poor Man's Kilkee near the city centre to lie around on the bit of green sticking out into the river, drink a six-pack of Stella, and burn themselves beetroot on a sunny day. This little nubbin of land got its name from people who couldn't afford to go to the holiday village of Kilkee in the summer, so got their tans locally.

Ten miles away is the pretty village of Adare, with a castle, a ruined monastery, 11th century church, hoards of coach tours, and cozified pubs serving carvery food. It's rather self-consciously touristy, but if you're short of time, and want a quick dose of a "real" Irish village, then you could do worse.

Sports: Limerick prides itself on its sporting reputation, but when you actually get down to it, it's not so glorious. The city is still boasting about the time in 1978 when the Munster rugby team beat the New Zealand All Blacks. The Munster team got free pints for life, and is still dining out on the story today. They have to; they haven't done much since. Rugby is a huge thing in the city, and if you ask about sport it's the first answer you get. Persist and you'll find there are also hurling, horseracing, greyhound racing, Gaelic football, and soccer. 

Getting there: From Shannon, there's buses and taxis into the city. If arriving from the USA, you can usually arrive in Shannon and depart from Dublin, or vice versa, which allows you to avoid backtracking. If you're coming from Dublin, the train takes 2-3 hours, and runs several times a day. Look out for cheap fare specials. By road, it's only a couple of hours from Dublin, now that they've opened the new stretch of motorway from Dublin to Portlaioise. Bus Eireann, the national coach service, is usually cheapest for getting around the country, and if you're coming to Limerick from anywhere else, it may be your only option unless you have a car. I still hitchhike in rural Ireland, and it's usually easy and safe to get a lift. The usual warnings about weirdoes and axe-murderers apply, but you're more likely to be picked up by a lonely Kerry farmer who's run out of conversation with his cow, than by someone who wants to give you a new tattoo with a bread knife.

Getting Around: You can see most of the sights of Limerick on foot: the major city sights and nightlife happens in the few blocks around the city center. There's a reasonable local bus service; most buses depart from William Street, off O'Connell Street.

Where to Stay: Don't be tempted by Shannon just because it has the airport. Shannon is dull and overpriced. Courtbrack Accommodation on Dock Road is handy to the city center and nightlife. Barrington's Lodge, on George's Quay, or Finnegan's Holiday Hostel in Perry Square are other options.

Links:
transport, local and around the country
Munster Rugby
Alive in Limerick