2 days in Limerick

2 Days in Limerick

Limerick is full of cool stuff to see and do. The city is located in the South-West region of Ireland and has a population of just under 200,000 people. Limerick has a long history, dating back hundreds of years. Limerick was originally founded by Vikings and used to be a walled city many years ago.

In this two-day travel guide, I have included some cool stuff to see and do, nice places to visit and hopefully have some craic in pubs, experience some the history and enjoy some good food.

The treaty city has many nice hotels, so I’m just going to mention just a few that are centrally located in the city centre. I have based this 2-day travel plan with one day travelling around the city centre and the second day travelling in County Limerick outside the city.

Day 1 in Limerick

Depending on your budget and transport needs, staying in the city centre has many advantages. The Savoy Hotel is a nice hotel located in the heart of the city centre, it’s close to lots of cool stuff, including Limerick’s Milk Market which is a nice place to visit. It’s one of Ireland’s oldest markets in Ireland, with some beautiful foods to try. The George Hotel is located in a brilliant spot in Limerick city.

The Clayton Hotel is located just off the Dock road, it is another hotel with a very central location very close to the city centre. The Absolute Hotel in Sir Harrys Mall is perfect for your stay in the treaty city, the hotel offers a good location, nice rooms and great food, what more could you want!!!

Pop over to King Johns Castle!

See the Treaty Stone!

The Treaty Stone is located next to Thomond bridge on Clancy’s Strand in Limerick. The monument is a basically a stone used for the signing of a treaty in 1691 that ended the Williamite – Jacobite war in Ireland.

These two attractions are cool places to visit and very close to each other. If you need some good food while visiting these areas, the Curragower bar and restaurant on Clancy strand is a good spot for food and refreshments.

Take a look around the Treaty City Brewery!

Located on Nicholas Street, just a short walk from King Johns Castle is Limericks craft beer brewery, The Treaty City Brewery. This brewery makes some tasty craft beers, and there is a visitor centre, you can take a tour of the brewery. It’s a cool spot to visit, and better still is trying their tasty beers in local pubs around the city.

Take a look at Saint Marys Cathedral!

After seeing some super-cool sites, you can travel over to Saint Mary’s Cathedral located on Bridge Street, Limerick. This building dates back to 1168, its 5.00 euros to go inside and admission is FREE for children up to 10 years old. This Cathedral is a special building with some wonderful features. You can take a look at the grounds and outside of the church for FREE!

See the old walls of Limerick!

Limerick used to be a walled city, and some of these old walls have survived and can be seen in a few locations around the city, these old walls took 200 years to build, and covered around 3 miles in total. The walls had many gates and towers for security.

Walk over to the Richard Harris Statue!

There are a few people born and from Limerick that became very successful and very well known and world-famous, Richard Harris the actor was originally from Limerick.

Richard Harris was in a number of movie’s and a regular in Hollywood circles, he played English Bob in the movie “Unforgiven” which also starred, Clint Eastwood. Richard Harris also starred in movies the Gladiator, Harry Potter and A Sporting Life. There is a statue erected in honour of Richard Harris on Bedford row in the city centre.

See the Lovely Terry Wogan Statue!

Terry Wogan the well-known broadcaster was from Limerick also, a statue of Terry Wogan is located in Harvey’s Quay. The city centre has lots of nice retail shops, cafes and bistros to wander around for a while if that’s what you like to do!!

Pop in the Limerick City Gallery of Art!!

Limerick city art gallery is a FREE attraction to visit in the city centre, the gallery is located in the Pery square area of Limerick. The gallery has cool stuff on display, its located in a beautiful part of the treaty city, with cool Georgian buildings to check out!

Visit Frank Mc Court’s Old School!

Leamy’s school is another cool building in Limerick that has famous connections, Frank Mc Court the writer of the book Angela’s Ashes which was turned into a movie went to school in this old Tudor style building. Leamy’s school is located on Hartstonge Street, Limerick.

The building was built between 1841 and 1845 and was used for Protestant kids but later was turned in a Catholic school in the 1950s. Frank Mc Court won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel Angela Ashes based on his early life in Limerick before he moved to America.

Chill out in Dolan’s after a busy day!

After a busy few hours looking around, you can pop over to Dolan’s on the Dock Road in Limerick for a nice meal, a few beers and some traditional Irish music. Dolan’s is a nice pub, restaurant and music venue, there are a large number of music events in Dolan’s warehouse each month, everything from comedy to rock and roll.

Day 2 in Limerick

After a great day one and night in Limerick, day two involves a big full Irish breakfast in the hotel before you head off on a small bit of travelling to Lough Gur in County Limerick and in the afternoon to the beautiful village of Adare.

If you need help with directions, enter the postcodes below in Google maps!

Lough Gur Visitor Centre Postcode – VD35ED96

Limerick to Adare Village (Heritage centre) – V94 HD92

Go Out To Lough Gur and Experience 6000 Years Of Real History!!!

Lough Gur is an area outside of Limerick in the county area, the area has some of Ireland’s most interesting evidence of early farmers and pottery dating back 6,000 years. The area has some stone circles, and one of the biggest stone circles in Ireland.

An old Yetholm design shield was discovered in the area dating back to 800 to 1200 BC. There is a really cool visitor centre at Lough Gur that you can learn about all the history of the local area, including the lake of Lough Gur and some other old historical buildings in the area.

There was evidence found of early houses in Lough Gur and some of Ireland’s earliest known farmer’s was discovered dating back to the Neolithic period, and a number of houses believed to be a Neolithic settlement area were found in excavations in Lough Gur.

See Sweet Old Adare Village!!

The village of Adare is located about a 25-minute drive from Limerick city, depending on what part of Limerick you are leaving from. Adare is a wonderful village to visit, full of history, cool old building, nice little cafes, plenty of good restaurants with loads of Irish foods to try.

1826 and Aunty Lena’s have excellent food, it is the perfect spot to grab some lunch or dinner. The village has a heritage visitor centre that has a FREE exhibition to see with lots of historical info about Adare. The heritage centre offers tours of the Desmond Castle in Adare, Adare has are lots to see and do all around the village and outside of the village.

See The Castle The Band U2 Used In There Album Shoot!

Carrigogunnell Castle in Clarina County Limerick is free to visit, the castle dates back to 13^th century. Carrigogunnell Castle was used by the famous Irish music band U2 as the backdrop for there album “The Unforgettable Fire”. Bono and his famous bandmates did an album photoshoot way back in the 1984 and the castle features in the album artwork.

If you’re interested in visiting some castles See my post on castles to check out in Limerick click here!

Relax After A Long Day At Nancy Blakes!

After a busy day sightseeing, chill out at Nancy Blakes pub in Denmark Street Limerick, this lovely little pub is located in the heart of the Treaty City, and its the perfect place to enjoy a few pints of Guinness. Nancy’s is a great spot for spending a long night enjoying Limericks nightlife and the outback area in the back of the pub is a lively little spot.

There are a number of other great pubs within 2 minutes walk of Nancy’s, like Smyth’s bar and the Icon nightclub which are across the road from Nancy Blake’s. Flannery’s on 17 upper Denmark street is just up the street and offers a large selection of Irish whiskeys and craft beers, it’s a lovely cosy little bar and with a larger bar upstairs to enjoy, depending on what mood you’re in!!!

See my post here on The Foyne’s Flying Boat Museum in County Limerick!

I hope you find this article useful, we welcome any suggestions or recommendations by email to info@allthings-ireland.com.

Thanks

John C

All Things Ireland