a day in limerick

So Peter, the driver, picked us up at "11-tirty" or "half eleven" to take us to meet the guide for our walking tour of Limerick.  The walking guide is named Declan. We meet outside the tourist office (which is closed) and set off down in the direction of the River Shannon.  On the way there we pass a statue of Richard Harris (Limerick native).  We also see political memorials in many spots along the river- some from the independence movement and some far earlier... and learn much history (in my case) or refresh much history (in Phil's case) LOL but we will start with my favorite photo of the day LOL

back to the walk- we crossed the Shannon and headed along the riverbank toward the Castle and learned about the whole of Irish history from the Vikings and Normans through the birth of the Republic after the Easter uprising.... the tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and since it was just Phil and me on the walk we had plenty of opportunity to ask questions or make comments.

the river is tidal and so has great variation in depth throughout the day-

a heron wades in the rocks seeking lunch...(above) and (below) the tide rushing past rocks making waves until the water reaches level...

our first glance of the castle-

the walkway along the river bank-

historical treaty stone from centuries past-

the walk below the stone has the full history of the events leading up to and after the treaty and it's breach... after the breach a number or regiments left and headed to France (known as the Wild Geese) where they settled in the south of France and became a part of the French Revolutionary armies- names from those who settled in the south of France will sound extremely familiar to those who are aficionados of wine- Lynch, Barton, Phelan to name a few--- if you favor Bordeaux you know these "wine geese"

a local neighborhood where some buildings were part of an effort for local artists to display their work-

some guy who stole a whole bunch of money from his mother by not paying her back the loan she made of her life savings - he used to self publish a book of his work (of poems, I think- what a jerk)

loved the sentiment-

a church from 800+ years ago- we will visit inside after the walking tour ends-

not all of Limerick is old-

Lunch! - I had the potted crab and Phil had a shrimp salad-

 then after lunch we visited the museum and the church on our own-

 we waited for our driver to pick us up at this shared bike drop and pick up lot-

later that night we had dinner at JP Clarke's (sister restaurant to the better Gallagher's of last night)

tomorrow morning we meet the rest of the music tour group and start off to the south... stay tuned...