Private Walking Tour of Limerick

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. Saint Mary’s Cathedral was founded in 1168 AD and stands majestically over the City of Limerick on the banks of the River Shannon. It is one of the most important medieval buildings to survive intact in Ireland, which is still performing its original function. It is believed to have been built on the site of a Viking thingmote (meeting place), and later the palace of the O’Brien kings of Thomond. It is an extraordinary building that has been ever-present during invasions, sieges, battles, wars, famines, and times of peace. It is also a treasure of Irish religious art.

   5 min

2. Established in 1877 on the original site of the South Tower, Curraghgour Boat Club boasts a rich tradition of fishing and boat building across the generations in Limerick City. Situated on a site dating back to the earliest Viking settlements. It is here that the Viking warships landed as they commenced the invasion of Limerick City. The site was later used as the ancient port of Limerick "Luimneach na Loinge" - Limerick of the Ships. With lineage dating back to The Siege of Limerick, Curraghgour Boat Club members are proud to continue the traditions and heritage forged by their ancestors along the broad majestic Shannon River. ​Members continue to practice the old traditions of boat building and fishing as they strive to preserve the skills and knowledge of an ancient and traditional lifestyle.

   5 min

3. Treaty City Brewery started in a small two bedroomed apartment in East Vancouver Canada. After a long night of general debauchery, plenty of merriment and many bottles of bland tasteless beer, they decided enough was enough. Something had to be done. Life was too short to drink bad beer. The next morning, while nursing a spectacular hangover they headed for the local homebrew store and purchased their very first brewing equipment. When offered some advice by the owner Stephen duly recited the rich brewing history in Ireland and how it was engrained in our DNA. No instructions needed they declared and headed off with their new gear. The spare bedroom was quickly converted into a working brewery and they set about creating their very first beer. Harris Pale Ale was born after many exploding fermenters, boil overs, leaking mash tuns. The recipe is still very similar today but they don’t brew on a hob in the kitchen anymore and instead of 20 litres they brew 3000 litres each batch!

   5 min

4. King John's Castle also known as Limerick Castle is a 13th-century castle located on King's Island in Limerick, Ireland, next to the River Shannon. Although the site dates back to 922 when the Vikings lived on the Island, the castle itself was built on the orders of King John in 1200. One of the best preserved Norman castles in Europe, the walls, towers, and fortifications remain today and are visitor attractions. The remains of a Viking settlement were uncovered during archaeological excavations at the site in 1900.

   5 min

5. What remains of this impressive architectural composition is an important and enriching palimpsest to the site and complex of Saint Mary's Cathedral. The secular use shows the economic importance of the building given its proximity to the cathedral. Henry Denmead was responsible for the reworking in 1777-78. James Pain was paid £432.17s 5d for repairs and alterations in April 1815, while George Richard Pain carried out further repairs in June 1819 to the cost of £182.1s 2½ d. On the 1872 Ordnance Survey, the building was in use as a national school, and the floor plan represented was of a single unified space opening onto Nicholas Street and three small secondary rooms to the rear. A passage or corridor to the west appears to have given access to the Church grounds, and the building to the rear looked onto a walled graveyard. A lane, now gone, called Grid Iron Lane, ran along the east side elevation of the structure, returning at right angles to meet Bridge Street.

   5 min

6. Katie Daly's Heritage Pub & Kitchen is situated just a stone throw away from King Johns Castle.

   Passes by

7. Thomond Bridge is a road bridge spanning the River Shannon in Limerick, Ireland. The bridge is named for the Kingdom of Thomond.

   5 min

8. George Clancy (1881 – 7 March 1921), also known as Seoirse Mac Fhlannchadha, Seoirse Mic Ḟlannċaḋa, and Seoirse Clancy, was an Irish nationalist politician and Mayor of Limerick. He was shot dead in Limerick by Royal Irish Constabulary Auxiliaries in 1921 during the Irish War of Independence. The previous Mayor, Michael O'Callaghan, was murdered on the same night by the same group

   5 min

9. Michael Hogan was born in New Road, Thomondgate in 1832. He gave himself the name “The Bard of Thomond”. He was one of six sons born to Arthur Hogan and Mary Nolan and was baptised in St Munchin’s Church. Arthur Hogan was a wheelwright at Stein’s Distillery, and a musician, who played the flutes and fiddles that he made with his own two hands. Given Arthur’s profession, it is probable that Michael Hogan derived his love of the arts from his father. Hogan was educated at the Christian Brothers School, which at the time was at the crossroads in Thomondgate. Hogan was only eight years old when he wrote his first poem, which over the span of his career turned out to be the first of many. He was a teenager when the hunger hit Ireland and his family experienced some of the ravages of the Great Irish Famine (1845–1848), about which he extensively wrote later in life.

   5 min

10. The Treaty of Limerick, signed on 3 October 1691, ended the 1689 to 1691 Williamite War in Ireland, a conflict related to the 1688 to 1697 Nine Years' War. It consisted of two separate agreements, one with military terms of surrender, signed by commanders of a French expeditionary force and Irish Jacobites loyal to the exiled James II. Baron de Ginkell, leader of government forces in Ireland, signed on behalf of William III and his wife Mary II. It allowed Jacobite units to be transported to France, the diaspora known as the Flight of the Wild Geese. The other set out conditions for those who remained, including guarantees of religious freedom for Catholics, and retention of property for those who remained in Ireland. Many were subsequently altered, or ignored, establishing the Protestant Ascendancy that dominated Ireland until 1916.

    5 min

11. Michael O'Callaghan was an Irish nationalist politician and Mayor of Limerick. He was shot dead in Limerick by Royal Irish Constabulary Auxiliaries in 1921 during the Irish War of Independence.

    5 min

12. Uniquely situated on the banks of the River Shannon, the Curragower Bar is in the heart of Limerick’s Medieval Quarter. With spectacular views of King John’s Castle and the Curragower Falls, the Curragower is the ideal place to take in all the city has to offer. This is the perfect stopover on the way to Thomond Park and has become renowned for its festival atmosphere before and after Munster matches. A well-known landmark in the city, the Curragower is believed to be one of the city’s oldest bars with some historians citing its establishment as far back as the late 1700s, originally serving as a sibín for local farmers and fishermen alike.

    Passes by

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Know before you go

How it compares in Limerick

• Its from-price is 40% below the median of the 56 experiences we list in Limerick.
• It is longer than most of them.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Limerick

Limerick is a Shannon-side city in the west of Ireland, with a Norman castle on King's Island, Georgian streets and a strong rugby and literary tradition.

Limerick sits where the River Shannon widens towards its estuary, and its oldest quarter lies on King's Island. King John's Castle, a thirteenth-century Norman fortress with round towers, dominates the riverbank, and St Mary's Cathedral stands near it, begun in the twelfth century. The Treaty Stone, on a plinth near Thomond Bridge, marks the 1691 treaty that ended the Williamite war in Ireland.

Top-ranked sights in Limerick: Bishop's Palace, Treaty Stone.

See all 56 experiences in Limerick