County Limerick Guide (Luimneach)
“The Treaty County” - in the province of Munster. County town: Limerick.
King John’s Castle on the Shannon and a fierce hurling tradition.
Limerick city stands on the broad River Shannon, guarded by the medieval King John’s Castle and revived in recent years into a confident, creative place. The county around it mixes rich farmland with heritage towns like Adare, often called Ireland’s prettiest village, and a hurling tradition that has lately conquered all before it.
Founded by Vikings on an island in the Shannon in 922, Limerick city grew into one of Ireland's great medieval strongholds, its skyline still commanded by King John's Castle and St Mary's Cathedral. The city gave its name to the Treaty of Limerick of 1691, which ended the Williamite War and whose broken promises made Limerick the Treaty City. Beyond the city, the county spreads across the Golden Vale, some of the richest dairy farmland in Europe, dotted with medieval remnants at Kilmallock, Askeaton and Adare, whose thatched cottages make it one of Ireland's prettiest villages.
Limerick's modern story is one of reinvention. The Ardnacrusha hydroelectric scheme, completed on the Shannon in 1929, was a huge gamble by the young Free State that electrified the country. Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes made the lanes of his childhood famous worldwide, while the city's passion for rugby, centred on Thomond Park and Munster's famous 1978 defeat of the All Blacks, is unmatched in Ireland. Recent decades brought a university, a thriving film industry and Limerick hurling's golden era, with the county dominating the game in the 2020s under John Kiely.
Cities, towns and villages in Limerick
- Limerick - The Treaty City on the Shannon, home to King John's Castle, the Hunt Museum, Thomond Park and Ireland's most fervent rugby tradition.
- Adare - Often called Ireland's prettiest village, known for its thatched cottages, medieval friaries and Adare Manor, host venue for the 2027 Ryder Cup.
- Newcastle West - The largest town in county Limerick outside the city, built around the medieval Desmond Castle and its banqueting hall.
- Kilmallock - One of Ireland's best-preserved medieval walled towns, once a stronghold of the Earls of Desmond.
- Foynes - A Shannon Estuary port that served as Europe's transatlantic flying boat terminal in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and the birthplace of Irish coffee.
- Askeaton - A historic town on the River Deel with a dramatic ruined Desmond castle on a rocky island and a 14th-century Franciscan friary.
- Abbeyfeale - A west Limerick market town on the Kerry border with a strong traditional music heritage.
- Bruff - A south Limerick town with ancestral links to the Fitzgerald family of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, mother of President John F. Kennedy.
- Castleconnell - A picturesque village on the Shannon long famous for its salmon fishery and 19th-century spa.
- Murroe - An east Limerick village beside Glenstal Abbey, a Benedictine monastery and renowned boarding school.
Famous people from Limerick
- Richard Harris - Limerick city-born star of This Sporting Life, The Field and the first Harry Potter films, and a proud son of the city's rugby culture.
- Frank McCourt - Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Angela's Ashes, the memoir of his impoverished Limerick childhood.
- Dolores O'Riordan - Unmistakable voice of The Cranberries, born in Limerick and raised in Ballybricken.
- Terry Wogan - Beloved BBC broadcaster and voice of Eurovision, born and schooled in Limerick city.
- Paul O'Connell - Towering second row who captained Munster, Ireland and the Lions, from Limerick city.
- Kate O'Brien - Pioneering novelist and playwright born in Limerick in 1897, whose books drew on the city's merchant Catholic world.
- Catherine Hayes - The 19th-century Limerick soprano who became the first Irishwoman to sing at La Scala in Milan.
- Con Colbert - 1916 Easter Rising leader executed at Kilmainham, born at Moanleana near Athea in west Limerick.
- J.P. McManus - Businessman, racehorse owner and philanthropist from Limerick whose Pro-Am golf event has raised vast sums for local charities.
- Keith Earls - Moyross-born winger who became one of Munster and Ireland's most capped and best-loved players.
Did you know?
- Irish coffee was invented at Foynes in the 1940s by chef Joe Sheridan to warm passengers from the transatlantic flying boats.
- The Ardnacrusha hydroelectric scheme, completed in 1929, was among the largest in the world at the time and at first supplied most of the Free State's electricity.
- Munster's 12-0 victory over the All Blacks at Thomond Park in 1978 remains one of rugby's most storied upsets, later celebrated in the play Alone It Stands.
- Limerick city was founded by the Vikings in 922, making it one of Ireland's oldest cities.
- The Treaty Stone on Clancy's Strand marks where the Treaty of Limerick was reputedly signed in 1691.
- The five-line comic verse known as the limerick is named after the county, a link often traced to the refrain 'Will you come up to Limerick'.
- Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy's ancestors, the maternal line of President John F. Kennedy, came from Bruff in south Limerick.
- Adare Manor will host the Ryder Cup in 2027, bringing the contest to Limerick for the first time.
Surnames from Limerick: O'Brien · Ryan · Collins · Fitzgerald · Hayes · Sheehan · O'Riordan · O'Donovan · Shanahan · Moloney · Heffernan · O'Grady