County Dossier
Limerick
A county of estuary waters, rich pasture and walled history.
Limerick stretches from the Shannon estuary eastward into fertile lowlands and the rich grazing country of the Golden Vale.
At a glance
Limerick at a glance
A county of estuary waters, rich pasture and walled history.
- Shannon crossings and Munster strongholds
- Estuary, Golden Vale and uplands
- Viking founding (812)
- Area: 1,064 sq miles / 2,756 km²
- Population: 191,809
- County Top: Galtymore (3,015ft / 919m)
County Geography
Limerick meets Clare across the Shannon to the north and north-west, Tipperary to the east, Cork to the south, and Kerry across the estuary to the west. The county is shaped by the estuarial west, the lower Shannon crossing, the open central plain, and the richer eastern and south-eastern grazing country.
Limerick is easy to recognise through the Shannon estuary, central plain, and eastern grazing country.
Map Reference
View Limerick on the map
Limerick is the county. The map shows its boundary, places, and neighbouring counties.
The county.
The county boundary.
Nearby counties and places.
Places and routes
Limerick, Newcastle West, Kilmallock, Adare, and Rathkeale show the county from its city-side crossing and western plain to its southern and eastern inland districts.
Connections
The county’s routes have long centred on the Shannon crossing at Limerick, spread west across the plain to Newcastle West, and run south and east toward Adare, Rathkeale, and Kilmallock. Movement follows the same estuary, crossing, and pasture pattern.
Names
- Limerick
- County Limerick
- County of Limerick
- Luimneach
Luimneach is the Irish form of Limerick. County Limerick is the formal historical style, the county name comes from the older place-name of Limerick itself, and the older county background lies in the Norse-and-Irish crossing centre on the Shannon and the wider Munster plain around it.
Limerick was a county by the medieval period, and its relationship between estuary, river crossing, and pasture-rich interior still gives the historic county a clear Shannon-centred geography.