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LIMERICK |
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Squarely on the path of all the major routes across the country, and
situated pretty much at the head of the Shannon estuary, the city of
LIMERICK seems a logical place to make for, but it's a disappointment.
Though it's the Republic's third city, and heavily industrialized, it
somehow falls significantly short of being a metropolis, yet also lacks
the attractions of a typically relaxed western seaboard town.
Unemployment and economic hard times have left their mark, it doesn't
always seem a friendly place and certain areas can feel positively
intimidating at night. Even so, recent efforts to clean up Limerick's
image are starting to pay off. On a fine day the area around King John's
Castle affords some sense of the city's medieval history and the
Georgian Custom House is home to the excellent Hunt Museum - reason
enough to give Limerick some time.
The city is famous too as the setting for Frank McCourt's international
best-seller Angela's Ashes - a memoir which received a mixed reception
locally for its portrayal of a Limerick childhood of grinding poverty.
Lively walking tours are proving increasingly popular with tourists
wanting to tap into the experiences at the heart of the book, and it
seems likely that the reconstructed heritage slum will be a similar draw.
The city you see today is predominantly Georgian, but nevertheless
Limerick has three distinct historical areas: Englishtown , the oldest
part of the city, built on an island in the Shannon with the castle as
its focal point; Irishtown , which began to take shape in the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries; and within this Newtown Pery , the modern
centre, a jumble of beautiful but rather dilapidated Georgian terraces
and garish fast-food joints.
The City
The sometimes incongruous blend of old and new in Limerick is testimony
to a city discovering itself after years of neglect. Renovations and new
building programmes stand alongside buildings - and indeed whole
districts - that seem barely touched by the last fifty years. The best
views of the city are to be had walking along the banks of the Shannon,
especially around Arthur's Quay and the City Hall, or alternatively from
the top of King John's Castle. Although virtually all the sights are in
the old parts, Englishtown and Irishtown , the modern centre of the city
is Newtown Pery - where the shops, pubs and restaurants congregate - an
area of broad parallel streets scattered with fine, if neglected,
Georgian buildings. O'Connell Street is the chief artery of this part of
the city, and it's worth wandering down here, checking out the side
streets with their characterful pubs and shops. Getting around the
centre is easiest on foot.
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