Limerick spent a long time being the city people passed through on the way to Kerry. That has changed, and the change is easy to see: the riverside, the Milk Market, the restaurant strip on Catherine Street, and a Georgian quarter that is finally being restored rather than merely surviving.
What to see
King John's Castle. Thirteenth century, on the Shannon, with the original walls, towers and a genuinely good archaeological exhibition built into the courtyard floor.
The Hunt Museum. A private collection in the old Custom House containing, among a great deal else, a bronze horse attributed to Leonardo and a coin said to be from the thirty pieces of silver. Small, strange and excellent.
St Mary's Cathedral. Founded 1168, and the oldest building in Limerick still in daily use. The fifteenth-century misericords — carved choir seats — are the only pre-Reformation set surviving in Ireland.
The Milk Market. Saturday morning. Food, produce, and the best breakfast in the mid-west.
Thomond Park. Munster rugby. If there is a European fixture on while you are here, do whatever is necessary to be in the ground.
The Great Southern Greenway and the riverside boardwalk for a walk.
As a base
This is the real argument for Limerick. From the city:
- Adare — 25 minutes. Thatched cottages, and Adare Manor, which hosts the Ryder Cup in 2027
- Shannon Airport — 25 minutes
- Dromoland Castle — 30 minutes
- Bunratty Castle and Folk Park — 20 minutes
- The Cliffs of Moher — 1 hour 20
- Killarney — 1 hour 30
- Galway — 1 hour 15
Very few Irish cities put that much within ninety minutes.
Getting there
Limerick is 203 kilometres from Dublin Airport and the shortest of our western routes — two hours twenty at a fixed €450 for up to three passengers, almost entirely motorway.
