(Spoken in the Limerick dialect of the 1930s and 1940s) Me fahdur packed up and left us whin I was only eight years old, just whin I was gettin’ to know and really love him. For some reason or other, I don’t know what, a fella called Jeezez ‘called him away’. Jeezez was a fella […]
Now my feet are planted in a far off land
I have read many little stories from the beautiful writers of Limerick, sure enough, some are maybe my school mates whom I have little recollection of now since 60 odd years have been like a slow drawn blotter on the blackboard of my life, erasing,erasing with that terrible screech every now and again as the […]
The Widow’s Penny
A record of the Limerick – city and county men – who died in the Great War When I started to compile the record of Limerick Men who died in the Great War, I had fewer than ten names. This would turn out to be a gigantic task, but I felt it had to be […]
Living and Dying in Limerick
Frank Thompson, one of Limericks oldest established Funeral Undertakers, was born at 43 Roches Street on the 30th. of November 1919. He had an unusual birth because he was born with a broken leg which resulted from a beating his mother received from the Black and Tans when they broke into his house looking for […]
A history of ancient and modern places of worship in Ahane
St. Patrick brought the Christian faith to Ireland in the fifth Century A.D. According to tradition, he is said to have visited Castleconnell, and blessed the people of Clare from this side of the Shannon River. He is also said to have foretold of the coming of St.Senan to the area. Senan, the son of […]
The first and last King of Ireland
BRIAN BORU (c. 940-1014) Brian Boru was born around 940, the youngest of two sons of Cennedig, head of Dal Cais, one of the royal free tribes of Munster. Brian grew up during the worst days of tyranny when the Dalcassians had been driven in to the present county of Clare. Brian’s brother, Mahon, being […]
The truth about 1935
Recent references to sectarianism in Limerick has aroused curiosity about what exactly happened here in 1935 – a date that deserves to go down in infamy in the history of Limerick. The really curious should consult Denis O’Shaughnessy’s Limerick: 100 stories of the century – if they are lucky enough to get their hands on […]
Catherine Hayes – the Limerick Nightingale
(1818-1861) Catherine Hayes was a legend in her own lifetime and afterwards. She was born at 4 Patrick Street, Limerick, the third daughter of Arthur and Mary Hayes. Her father who was Bandmaster of the Limerick City Militia deserted his family causing great financial distress. The young Catherine Hayes helped her cousin, Mrs Carroll who […]
The Irish Peers and the House of Lords
The right of the Irish peers to be represented in the House of Lords was part of the unfinished business of Ireland left behind when the Irish Free State was established in 1922, reflecting the fact that the arrangements then made were regarded by all sides as an interim settlement. Most of these peers were […]