Welcome to Limerick Archives
Discover the people, places and events that shaped Limerick city and county. Explore freely accessible photographs, articles, documents and carefully researched stories drawn from across the centuries. Whether you are tracing family history, revisiting familiar streets or discovering Limerick for the first time, the archive offers a growing record of our shared past.
New Arrivals | August 2026
Civic Accounts
Limerick’s municipal development between 1842 and 1934 can be traced through the financial records of its Corporation. These surviving abstracts, ledgers, registers and committee papers show how local government raised money, paid employees, supported institutions and maintained public services. After the Municipal Corporations Act 1840, the Corporation could levy a borough rate through the poor-law rating system. Initially, income and expenditure were managed through one Borough Fund. The Limerick Improvement Act 1853 then introduced separate General Purposes and Improvement funds, alongside a Sinking Fund intended to assist with repayment of the city’s corporate debt over time with increasing administrative precision.
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Ireland Votes
Electors in Limerick City are voting today as the United Kingdom general election continues across Ireland and Britain. The local contest places Michael Joyce of the reunited Irish Parliamentary Party against Francis Kearney, the Unionist candidate, and offers voters a direct choice between Home Rule nationalism and continued government from Westminster. Campaigning throughout the city has centred upon Irish self-government, land reform, the South African War and the ability of the newly reunited nationalist party to act with discipline. Across Ireland, polling is occurring on different days between late September and October rather than through one national election day.
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Roads Dispute
Arguments continued across County Limerick over whether public roads should be maintained through private contracts or by labourers employed directly under elected local authorities. The Munster News criticised what it regarded as Limerick County Council’s unsatisfactory handling of road tenders and the developing direct-labour question. The dispute followed the transfer of road administration from the Grand Jury system to the newly elected county and rural district councils. Councillors were now responsible for deciding how public money should be spent, who should receive employment and whether established contractors continued to offer the most economical and reliable method of keeping roads in repair.
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O’Mara Meats
O’Mara Meats began as a modest curing business in Limerick in the early nineteenth century when James O’Mara established operations employing local curers and butchers. The works were sited in the city district known locally as Pigtown, concentrated around Roches Street, Anne Street and the old meat market. From household and small workshop origins the company expanded through the later nineteenth century, investing in larger curing sheds, salt houses, packing rooms and ice storage. It served Limerick’s growing urban market and developed trade routes that sent Limerick ham and bacon beyond the city limits to Britain and other markets abroad.
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Excursion Riot
A railway excursion organised by Cleeve’s Creamery in Tipperary town drew the Limerick-based company into public controversy on Saturday, 7 April 1900. The creamery, then the town’s largest employer, arranged a special train to Dublin for its mainly female workforce during Queen Victoria’s final visit to Ireland. Each employee received a rosette in red, white and blue, and the journey was intended as a visible demonstration of loyalty as the royal procession passed through the capital. Because Cleeve’s had its headquarters and industrial identity in Limerick, the episode immediately touched the reputation of one of the city’s most prominent commercial enterprises.
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Featured Images
Horse Brake
1900By 1900, Limerick’s great long-distance stagecoach era had largely disappeared, replaced by the expanding railway network. Horse-drawn vehicles nevertheless remained essential throughout the city and surrounding countryside. Large brakes and passenger wagons carried groups on local journeys, outings and transfers, while hackney cars, jaunting cars, drays and private carriages crowded the streets. Horses also transported goods from the docks, breweries, distilleries and railway station. This reconstructed scene captures a group of formally dressed men aboard a substantial horse-drawn vehicle, reflecting a transitional age when steam powered intercity travel, but horses still firmly supported Limerick’s everyday commercial, urban and social life.
Colour Print
This variation of a colour print depicts Adare Manor beside the River Maigue in Adare, County Limerick. The imposing Gothic Revival residence is shown within landscaped grounds, reflected in the calm water and framed by mature trees. Often described as a calendar house, the manor is associated with 365 windows and 52 chimneys, representing the days and weeks of the year. Published in Francis Orpen Morris’s A Series of Picturesque Views of Seats of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, the image celebrates the architecture, setting, and aristocratic character of one of County Limerick’s most recognisable historic estates and landmarks.
Edwardian Limerick
1900“The Heart of Edwardian Limerick” is preserved as a separate photographic record in Limerick Archives under archive reference LA-PH-000302. Its catalogue records the location as Limerick City & County and the subject as Businesses and Shops. At the beginning of the twentieth century, George Street stood at the centre of commercial life in Limerick. Today known as O’Connell Street, it was bordered by impressive Georgian buildings housing hotels, shops, offices and established local businesses. Horse-drawn carts, private carriages and crowds of pedestrians moved constantly along the busy thoroughfare, while traders brought additional noise and colour to the scene. Landmarks included the Royal Hotel, MacMahon’s Temperance Hotel and firms such as O’Mahony & Company. The street’s elegant architecture and lively commerce made it one of Edwardian Limerick’s most important and recognisable urban spaces for residents and visitors.
Limerick City
1900
John’S Castle
1922King John’s Castle stands beside the River Shannon at Curragower Falls, with broken water, river rocks and the castle’s stone frontage visible across the scene. The round towers, curtain walls and riverside defences remain central, while the burned Castle Barracks appears roofless and blackened within the enclosure. Thomond Bridge is visible to the left, with nearby trees, older buildings and a church tower rising beyond the castle walls. The river surface shows ripples, reflections and shallow movement below the fortifications. The image presents the castle after damage, set within the wider early twentieth century Limerick urban riverside landscape after 1922.
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Books Supporting the Archive
Every book purchased helps support the continuing work of Limerick Archives.
Ashes
The Ashes Trilogy, Book One
A vivid Limerick story of childhood, friendship, hardship and resilience in streets and lanes too often absent from official history.
Severance
Historical Novel
A historical novel set in Ballingarry, County Limerick, during Ireland’s struggle for independence, where trust, secrecy and survival bind a community together.
Limerick Generations 1900 to 1909
Limerick Decalogy, Book One
A month-by-month record of Limerick city and county at the opening of the twentieth century, connecting local lives with national change.
Help Preserve Limerick’s Past
Have a photograph, document, memory or correction to share? Material is accepted in any condition, ownership remains entirely yours, and items can be removed whenever requested.
