A magical 24 hours in Limerick

THERE really is something a bit magical about getting away together as a family. Maybe it’s the break from routine - no work to be done, no household chores to complete, no real to-do-list, no sibling wars...

Sometimes we think we need that two-week holiday in a foreign country to rest-up, recharge, re-energise, connect, and explore places new. But not always. We forget what is on our doorstep.

Recently, a simple 24 hours in Limerick - just a two-hour drive away from where we live in Cork - filled our cup with some wonderful family time, historical knowledge, cultural education... way more than we ever expected. A return visit is on the cards to discover more treasures that the Treaty City has to offer.

In just 24 hours, we hit three major tourist attractions, dined in fabulous local eateries, and lay our heads down in one of the city’s top hotels – all within walking distance of each other.

Sightseeing

First things first! Have you heard about the Discover Limerick Pass? It’s the official sightseeing pass for the city and county, the first of its kind along the Wild Atlantic Way. You can choose between a one-day, two-day or three-day pass and get access to 14 handpicked attractions, saving money on admission fees.

In a bid to see the best of this destination, we had three tourist attractions on our radar to use the Limerick Pass – King John’s Castle, The Hunt Museum – both in Limerick city - and Foynes Flying Boat Museum.

After dropping our bags off at the wonderful 4-star The Strand Hotel in Limerick, we took the quick ten-minute walk to King John’s Castle – one of Europe’s best preserved Norman castles. We were left to explore its fabulous modern interactive exhibits, which brought us through the castle’s dark story, spanning 800 years. The walls of the castle have witnessed major events that shaped both modern Ireland and Limerick city.

After some time indoors, we made our way outside onto the courtyard where we were greeted by re-enactors, who were happy to engage with us, to the delight of the kids – and the big kid! 

Heads were put in stalls, horseshoes were thrown in a traditional game and old weaponry was examined... all before making our way into the towers of the castle, which boasts the most spectacular views across Limerick city.

All that left us hungry, so we wandered back over the bridge from the castle, a mere five-minute walk to the award winning Curragower Bar & Restaurant – on entering you get that old worldly feel of a pub, but out the side is a beautiful covered modern terrace overlooking the river. We all enjoyed a delicious lunch, which satisfied the hungry diners and fuelled us up for some more sightseeing.

Then it was onto The Hunt Museum, just a ten-minute walk away – which was the highlight of the tour for all of us – I didn’t think the younger members of the family would enjoy it so much! Sometimes, museums can be a hard sell, even to the most curious of nine and 11 year olds. But what nine and 11 year old can say they saw first hand the works of Picasso, Renoir, and Yeats – as well as more than 2,000 ancient artefacts and modern ethnographic treasures. The excitement was real!

We enjoyed two hours immersed in stories about art and antiquity of national and global importance – and when the tour was over, I honestly think the kids could have enjoyed another two hours there! What is even more impressive, is that the museum is filled with the personal collection of John and Gertrude Hunt, who donated the pieces to the people of Ireland. We learned about the history of the Hunt family, details of the individual pieces there – even items dating from the stone age right up to modern day.

High praise please for the volunteer, Mike, who graciously gave of his time to show us around this fascinating collection and kept both young and old enthralled throughout.

Before we left, we looked at some interesting educational work being done in the gallery downstairs, involving 3D printing of some of the artefacts – something we’ll explore further when we come back!

We left the museum and dashed back to the hotel on foot again, dodging the rain (yes, there was rain that weekend we visited too!) – where we enjoyed a lovely meal, before heading to the games room for some winding down time before bed. We rested our heads in a very spacious family hotel room – with amazing views across the city. We woke early to enjoy a lovely breakfast at the hotel, one of the highlights of course was the self-serving pancake machine, that every kid wants to bring home with them!

Ready for our final adventure, we took a 40 minute drive outside Limerick city, to visit the Foynes Flying Boat Musuem – another gem! Here we got to learn about the role that Foynes played in passenger flights across the Atlantic Ocean and the legendary flying boats that came and went; carrying celebrities, royalty, the rich and famous, and desperate refugees alike. 

We event got to climb inside a replica B314 flying boat and radio room in the original terminal building!

But one of my favourites was the Maureen O’Hara exhibition. We even got up close to her Oscar. The exhibition was a reminder of what a wonderful actress and Hollywood star she was. Of course, we tend to claim her as one of our own here in Cork, where she had a home.

There was also a maritime exhibition there and an Irish coffee lounge, which tells of the original location where Irish coffee was invented by Joe Sheridan.

We were sad to call it a day... but we had to rush home to Cork for another engagement. But with another 11 places left on the Limerick Pass to visit, we’ll have to make a return soon – and after all, it’s just brief road trip from Cork.

More about the Limerick Pass

There is so much to explore with the Discover Limerick Pass. To gain admission to the venues, you simply show your Pass on your mobile phone at the admission desk or payment point for each attraction. For tours, follow the booking instructions on the attraction page to pre-book your date and time slot. See https://discoverlimerickpass.com/ for more information or find them on social media Facebook: facebook.com/Limerick.ie, or Instagram: @Limerickie and Twitter: @Limerick_ie