Limerick
Limerick names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Limerick the seat and the chief town of the county of that name in southern Ireland
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the seat and the chief town of the county of that name in southern Ireland. It is situated on both sides of the Shannon, at the head of deep water navigation. It is about fifty miles due north from Cork. Limerick was one of the early centers of Irish civilization. It was the seat of the kings of north Munster. In 1174 it was seized by the English, and was converted by them into one of the strongest fortifications in Ireland. In importance, it is the fourth port of Ireland. The shores of the Shannon are provided with quays and floating docks. The river is spanned by numerous bridges. The city is the seat of linen, lace, and glove industries. There are large breweries, distilleries, tanneries, and flour mills. The population in 1901 was reported at about 45,806. Although Limerick is a traditional Irish name, and is, in the popular mind, a type of all that is Irish, the city itself, like Dublin, is essentially English. See Cork ; Killarney ; Ireland
Limerick capital of Limerick co.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
capital of Limerick co., Ireland, at the head of the estuary of the Shannon; 120 miles S. W. of Dublin. The town consists of English Town, the original English settlement made in the reign of King John, on King's Island; Irish Town, which lies immediately to the S., on the left bank of the river, and Newtown-Pery, to the S. of Irish Town, the newest and handsomest part of the city, dating from 1769. There are few objects of interest except the Protestant cathedral of St. Mary, founded in 1180, and rebuilt in 1490; the Roman Catholic cathedral, a Gothic structure erected in 1860; and the fine bridges across the Shannon. Pop. about 26,000.
Limerick an inland county of Ireland
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
an inland county of Ireland, in the ancient kingdom of Munster, bounded N. by the river Shannon, E. by Tipperary, S. by Cork, and W. by Kerry. It is level, with the picturesque Galtees in the S. E., and toward the Kerry boundary, a circular amphitheater of hills. Boats ply up the Shannon as far as Limerick, and the salmon fisheries are river important. The picturesque Maigne, rising in the Galtees, traverses the mountains and flows into the Shan- There are fourteen baronies in the non. those of county. The dioceses are Cashel, Killaloe, and Limerick. The area is 680,842 acres; capital, Limerick. Pop. about 140,000.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Both accounts describe a British city: Aiton's in 1910 called Limerick "essentially English," and Collier's in 1921 dated English Town to the reign of King John. Within a year of Collier's appearing, Limerick was part of the Irish Free State, and the city had already lost two mayors murdered in 1921 during the War of Independence. The linen, lace and glove trades named in 1910 are gone; the Shannon that carried Limerick's shipping was dammed upstream at Ardnacrusha in 1929 to power the new state's electricity grid, and Shannon Airport and the University of Limerick (a university since 1989) now anchor the local economy. Collier's figure of "about 26,000" was well short even then — Aiton's 45,806 for 1901 is nearer the mark — and the city area now holds over 100,000 people; city and county councils were merged in 2014, and in 2024 Limerick elected Ireland's first directly elected mayor.
Written for this edition, 2026.