The Limerick City, Adare and fOYNES Tour of ireland

This tour takes you on a tour of the sights of Limerick city and county. We will take you to The Hunt Museum, King Johns Castle, Thomond Park, The Frank McCourt Tour, Foynes and Adare.This is a day tour. See below the pictures for more information

Limerick City

The city dates from at least the Viking settlement in 812. The Normans redesigned the city in the 12th century and added much of the most notable architecture, such as King John's Castle and St Mary's Cathedral.

During the 17th century the city played a pivotal role in the Comwellian wars, besieged by his army in 1651 and twice by the Williamites in the 1690s. This turbulent period earned the city its motto: Urbs antiqua fuit studisque asperrima belli (An ancient city well studied in the arts of war).Pictured below is The Treaty Stone at King Johns Castle.

Limerick grew rich through trade in the late 18th century, but the Act of Union in 1800 and the famine caused a crippling economic decline. From being the biggest producer of Bacon in Europe at the turn of the 19th century, Limerick's traditional industry, with Family names like Matterson, Denny, Shaw and O'Meara emblazoned on sausage packs for generations, has all but disappeared.

However, through regeneration the City has taken on a life of it's own and has managed to attract many tourists to the area and of course rugby fans to one of it's great attractions Thomond Park. Local industries come from the world of Electronics, Computing and The Pharma sector.

The Hunt Museum

The Hunt Museum is a museum housing a personal collection donated by the US Hunt family. This collection was originally situated in the University of Limerick, before being moved to its present location in 1997.

It can now be visited in the old custom house, an historic 18th century building by the River Shannon in Rutland Street. The east end of Limerick's quays began at this area of the river, recently made home to a marina.

King John’s Castle

King John's Castle is a castle located on the King's Island in Limerick, Ireland, next to the River Shannon. The Viking sea-king, Thormodr Helgason, built the first permanent Viking stronghold on King's Island in 922.

He used the base to raid the length of the River Shannon from Lough Derg to Lough Ree, pillaging ecclesiastical settlements. In 937 the Limerick Vikings clashed with those of Dublin on Lough Ree and were defeated. In 943 they were defeated again when the chief of the local Dalcassian clan joined with Ceallachán, king of Munster and the Limerick Vikings were forced to pay tribute to the clans.

The power of the Vikings never recovered, and they reduced to the level of a minor clan, however often playing pivotal parts in the endless power struggles of the next few centuries.

The arrival of the Anglo-Normans to the area in 1172 changed everything. Domhnall Mór Ó Briain burned the city to the ground in 1174 in a bid to keep it from the hands of the new invaders. After he died in 1194, the Anglo-Normans finally captured the area in 1195, under John, Lord of Ireland. In 1197 local legend claims Limerick was given its first charter and its first Mayor, Adam Sarvant. A castle, built on the orders of King John and bearing his name, was completed around 1200.

Under the general peace imposed by the Norman rule, Limerick prospered as a port and trading centre. By this time the city was divided into an area became known as "English Town" on King's Island, while another settlement, named "Irish Town" had grown on the south bank of the river. A 1574 document prepared for the Spanish ambassador attests to its wealth:
Limerick is stronger and more beautiful than all the other cities of Ireland, well walled with stout walls of hewn marble... There is no entrance except by stone bridges, one of the two of which has 14 arches, and the other 8 ... for the most part the houses are of square stone of black marble and built in the form of towers and fortresses.

The walls of the castle were severely damaged in the Siege of Limerick 1642, the first of five sieges of the city in the 17th century. In 1642, the castle was occupied by Protestants fleeing the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and was besieged by an Irish Confederate force under Garret Barry. Barry had no siege artillery so he undermined the walls of King John's Castle by digging away their foundations. Those inside surrendered just before Barry collapsed the walls. However, such was the damage done to the wall's foundations that a section of them had to be pulled down afterward.

Thomond Park

Thomond Park holds a special place in rugby due to its own unique history and atmosphere. The stadium is famed for its noise during play and the complete silence while home and away players are kicking for goal.

Munster also retained an intimidating 12 year unbeaten run at Thomond in the Heineken Cup – running from the competition's start in 1995 until 2007 when the Leicester Tigers broke the streak with a 13–6 win. It is at Thomond park that Munster celebrated their most famous win a 12–0 victory over the New Zealand All Blacks in 1978

Frank McCourt

Francis "Frank" McCourt was an Irish-American teacher and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Frank was born in New York and returned with his parents to Limerick in 1935. He is best known as the author of "Angela's Ashes", a memoir of the misery and squalor of his childhood growing up in the slums of Limerick in the thirties and forties. He achieved world wide acclaim in the aftermath of the publication of this book and the subsequent Blockbuster movie that followed. Take the Angela's Ashes tour through the areas of Limerick that Frank grew up in.

The Foynes Flying Boat Museum

In the late 1930s, transatlantic air traffic was dominated by flying boats, and a flying boat terminal was located at Foynes on the south side of the Shannon Estuary.
On 26 March 1939, Pan American made its first trial transatlantic flight to Foynes using a Boeing 314 Flying Boat in a time of 29 hours. Thus began an aviation relationship that has spanned 75 years and filled the air-lanes over the Shannon Estuary with commercial aircraft that continues to this day. The main reason for using flying boats at that time was the lack of runways long enough to allow large airplanes to take off and land. Foynes is home to a museum that houses a recreated Flying Boat. This is a site not to be missed on any tour to Ireland and the centre is a minefield of information.

The Politicians of the day knew that a land based airport would be required to deal with the development of heavier and longer range aircraft and in 1936 the Government confirmed that it would develop a site on the other side of the river, for the country's first transatlantic airport. The land on which the airport was to be built was boggy, and on 8 October 1936 work began.
By 1942 a serviceable airport had been established and was named Shannon Airport. By 1945 the existing runways at Shannon were extended to allow transatlantic flights to land.
In 1947 the "Customs Free Airport Act" established Shannon as the world's first duty free airport. Shannon became a model for other Duty Free facilities worldwide.

The Irish Coffee

One of the other great things that happened at Foynes was the creation of The Irish Coffee when a group of Americans arrived off a flight, that were cold, wet and hungry late at night.

Chef Joe Sheridan cradled some whiskey in their coffees and thus was born one of the few drinks, whose origins are defined in time and place forever. Afterwards, the passengers asked if they were being served Brazilian coffee, but Sheridan replied "No it's Irish coffee !".

Adare Village

"Irelands Prettiest Village"

The picturesque village of Adare sits on the River Maigue about sixteen kilometres west of Limerick City.  Home to Adare Manor and a beautiful collection of thatched cottages , beautifully painted and decorated with flowers, it has won the National Tidy Town Award several times. Renowned as one of Ireland's prettiest villages, Adare is designated as a Heritage Town by the Irish government. Due to its origin as village of the Dunraven estate, Adare has a more planned appearance than many Irish villages and towns.