Limerick City Rehearsal Studios

Found in an old Franciscan Monastery on Henry Street, LCRS has been set up by musicians for musicians. The two available studios have been extremely well treated. With the dense dead sound, these rooms are perfectly suited for jamming sessions.
      The larger of the room features a full size pa including tops, bins, amps and an SM58 vocal microphone. Guitar and bass amplifiers are provided if necessary. Also included in the rental of the room is a 4 piece Pearl Masters drum kit. Drummers must bring their own breakables such as drumsticks and cymbals.

 Located upstairs is the bands chillout area where bands are free to take a break, sit down and relax during their long sessions in the rehearsal studios. With its dimly lit lights and the amazing artwork on the wall, I felt this room is an excellent facility to talk comfortably with your bandmates and reflect on your work.

Rates are very resonable in this amazingly kitted facility.
   Rates start at 8euro an hour with a minimum of two hours rehearsal time required. If you book for five hours or more the session will cost 35 euro.
                Amps are available upon request at 5euro a unit but you must bring your own guitars.




I would strongly encourage any band to test out this amazing facility. Its almost a guarantee that you will not find better quality for the money.

Currently I have not been able to find a website for LCRS, but I have been able to find the contact details for bookings.

Contact Simon on  0851531411 or via e-mail at limerickcityrehearsalsudios@gmail.com
Other details may be found at the following link: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=73490077

by Andrew Farrell (11113588) email: 11113588@studentmail.ul.ie

The belltable

Two weeks ago i received a phone call from my parents saying they would be visiting me in limerick. i was dreading it. my parents are quite bohemian in their ways and i wasn't looking forward to them meeting my more conventional housemates. luckily when they arrived they didn't enter the house as they had booked tickets for  something in the city. knowing them i was in for some sort of arty ... theatre .. exihition type thing so i wasn't too excited. fortunately it ended up to be a foreigne film with subtitles. slightly better!

we arrived on o'connels st. at the beautifully designed doors of the Belltable theatre. the doors contrasted bright red doors & stained glass with classical arches and collumbs.

The reception of the Belltable is far from boring with quirky photography on the walls. There is also tea and coffee while you wait for the showing (Unfortunatley only instant coffee).

We were seated in a 100 person cinema , and instead of the usual advertisments we were greeted by a member of staff introducing the film, i found this a breath of fresh air compared to the usual cineplexes.  The film they were showing that evening was ''Incendies'' a staggeringly powerful film, which i would highly recomend. maybe not for those looking for a conventional feel good film. 

I left the Belltable being totally blown away by the film. also very satisfied with the atmosphere of the theatre. 


Kyle Tyther

The Magic Shop Limerick|Halloween Costumes & Fancy Dress Ireland

"The Magic Shop": situated on Cecil Street opposite Fla's pub. A small but creative shop on the corner. Owned by Pat Clany and his wife Ann with the help of their son Brian.

The Magic Shop Limerick|Halloween Costumes & Fancy Dress Ireland

magicshoplimerick.com/

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Why I choose "The Magic Shop"

As we are approaching halloween we start to notice change about the place. The decorations of plastic skeletons in shop windows and pumpkins with strange looking carved out faces on the pillars of peoples homes lets us know whats in store for us. Magic has always been associated with this time of year and what better place to get your supplies than your very own magic store. Costumes of witches and wizards, characters from films, swords and wands, masks and fake blood. All you need is here in this shop.

My experience

As I wandered into the shop I was greeted by a nice young man named Brian. He was able to inform me of their Facebook page and the website that he set up for his parents to help advertise the shop. Following this I met his father Pat and His mother Ann, both lovely people and very helpful. Pat explained that the shop had been open for thirty four years but they recently had to move. The shop was previously situated on Mallow street for thirty two years, but when the landlord died there was an inspection and the premises was deemed unsafe to let out a shop. They have been in Cecil street for the past two years and Pat has no problem what so ever with it. He said "It's great to be on a side street so close to the main one (O'Connell street)". When I asked him a few questions about the his work he told me that they normally open form 10:30am - 5.30pm, Monday to Friday Outside halloween. However, from the 21st to the 31st of October he opens from 9:00am - 6:00pm due to the numbers of people in demand for costumes and decorations.  y 

Moody Cow Milkshakes

On my first week in college my roommates and I went into the city for a look around. We got off the bus on Roches street, and as we were walking down it we passed Moody Cow. We went in and saw shelves of chocolate bars and sweets on the wall behind the counter and realised what the place was.  You could buy a milkshake with whatever bar or sweet you wanted blended into it! I'd never seen anything like it. I bought a "Munchies" chocolate one and it was amazing.

When we got home we got a sheet of paper and put what we bought down on it. Since then, whenever we go into town we buy one each, different to any that any of us have had before and write it down on the list.
There are now more than 40 things on the list and counting.

My favourite choice so far has been either blue Softmints or a Stinger bar. Also, in the shop they have leather seats to sit at while you are waiting for your milkshake and a constant stream of funny video clips running on a tv in the top left-hand corner of the shop. I think that this is an excellent idea as it gives you something to do while you are waiting and especially if there is a large queue in the shop, which there often is, due to it's increasing popularity.

The shop is very noticeable with it's bright purple canopy and green writing. It is very inviting and I would encourage everyone to pay a visit if you haven't already.

S.H (11131381)

Medicare Pharmacy

The place that I have chosen for my assignment is medicare pharmacy in Castletroy. When I was first given the assignment I looked up limerick.ie which gave me a list of the top 50 things to do in limerick. Originally I had chosen King John's Castle .

However unfortunately I came down with an illness the Sunday before I did my assignment. On the Monday I went to the medical centre in the University of Limerick. The doctor wrote me a prescription for multiple antibiotics. Immediately after this I went to the pharmacy in the university which unfortunately does not stock the antibiotics I needed. So I went back to my house in Plassey Village and asked my housemates if they knew where there was a pharmacy close by. As we are all new to limerick city none of us knew where there was one. So I went to http://www.google.com/ and typed in pharmacy limerick into Google Maps. A good few results came up so I had a look at the ones located close to the college.

I saw that there was a medicare pharmacy that seemed to be very close to my house. Using the phone number I found on the medicare website I rang them up to check if they had the antibiotics in stock. I was in luck the woman on the phone told me that if I had a prescription they would be able to give me the antibiotics on the spot. I then went into Google street view and used that to virtually walk from the pharmacy back to my house in Plassey Village. Which as it turned out was only a 5 minute walk around the corner.

The reason I chose the medicare pharmacy for my assignment is because I thought it was very relevant to what we were asked to do. Being completely new to limerick city I was faced with the task of finding a pharmacy with the antibiotics i needed in stock. I used the virtual world to get all the relevant information, and then used that information to get to the pharmacy in the real world.

David Moore
11132566

King John's Castle

King John’s Castle is situated  in King’s Island on  the outskirts of Limerick City beside the River Shannon.

I chose to base my assignment on this castle because it's one of the most popular tourist spot in Limerick City and I had previously visited it on a school tour a few years ago so I already had a basic knowledge of the place.

It was built in 1200 and most of the castle still remains today, including the towers, walls and fortifications. The viking, Thormodr Helgason constructed the first viking castle in Inis in 922. Year 937 the Limerick Vikings fought with the Dublin vikings and they lost. Year 943 they lost again when the chief of the  Dalcassian clan and king of munster and the Limerick Vikings had no choice but to pay tribute to the clans. The power of the Vikings was never reestablished.

When the Anglo-Normans arrived to the area in 1172, it changed everything. Domhnall Mór Ó Briain set fire to the city in 1174 to keep it safe from intruders. When he died in 1194, the Anglo-Normans took over the city in controlled by John, Lord of Ireland. The castle, built from the request of King John, was finished in around the years of 1200.

In the Siege of Limerick 1642, the castle was burnt badly. The people inside surrendered in time, and dodged the walss collapsing. Much damage has been created to the walls.

The following is pictures of myself at this Castle.

11113693 Isla Shanley

[edit]See also

St. John's Cathedral

I first discovered st. John's cathedral through the UL Choral society. It was announced on

King John's Castle

I have always had a keen interest in the history of Ireland and have visited many castle's around the country in the last few years but had not yet been to one in County Limerick. When I first heard about King John's Castle on a website my friend found http://www.limericktourist.com/details/king_johns_castle.shtml i was very interested as it was a beautiful 13th century Castle on King’s Island in the heart of medieval Limerick City and was easily accessed from the city centre. I decided during a week in september to stay down one weekend in college with my friend Steph to explore the castle. We set off from the university at 11a.m on the Saturday morning and arrived at King John's Castle at about 11.35a.m. It was a lovely sunny day which made the experience even more enjoyable. Admission to enter the castle was six euro and 65 cent for student's.

The Castle overlooks the majestic River Shannon offering wonderful views of Limerick City. King John’s Castle is divided into four areas. The first offers an informational, if not high quality, slide show of the history of the castle. The second area outlines the battles of the castle, including the Siege of Limerick in 1691. The third area is the castle courtyard showing the trades and traditions of the 16th century, including an interesting demonstration of coin making given by a real man in a period costume. The fourth area is the archaeological site, which exposes the earlier pre-Norman levels. I particularly enjoyed the visit to King John's castle as it was a self-guided tour. We were allowed to stroll around the castle at our ease and take in the beautiful scenery which was seen at the top of the castle. It is a relatively small castle but nevertheless, it was entertaining. There was a cool little movie about the castle and a talking King John statuette.

You can experience 800 years of history brought to life through song and music. The Music Of King John's Castle can be ordered online at the following website - http://www.steamboatmusic.net/index.php/vmchk/Five-Line-Music-Albums-/The-Music-of-King-John-s-Castle/Detailed-product-flyer.html for fourteen euro and four cent. It includes many old irish songs and is very easy to listen to. I would really recommend this C.D to anyone who has an interest for irish music.

Lisa Fahy (10138889)

The Gaelic Grounds

Introduction:

The Gaelic Grounds or Pairc na nGael is the home and main stadium of Limerick city GAA. The creation of this impressive stadium began on the 9th October, 1926 when the site where the construction would begin was purchased. Two years later the stadium officially opened with two junior hurling games and today it can hold up to fifty thousand fans at any time.

Raising Money & Upkeep:

Over the years the GAA have has had to raise large quantities of money for the maintenance and improvement of the stadium. In 1932 the first large scale fundraising began with the creation of a development committee whose remit was to level the pitch, providing sideline seating and build a boundary wall. Over the years several committee's have raised funds on several different occasions to turn the stadium into the impressive construct it is today and to make it capable of dealing with the extra necessities of both the hurlers and the fans.

My Experience:

As a huge hurling fan I automatically loved the Gaelic grounds for many reasons, the facilities, the teams, the experience and of coarse the atmosphere. Some of my happiest memories are of going to see matches being played and what better place to be then surrounded by thousands of other screaming fans to create real excitement. I will as long as I live never forget the many thrilling games I've watched there between teams of all ages and position. It is truly one of the most magnificent locations to visit in Limerick.

Links:

http://www.sportsmanager.ie/t66.php?userid=18&contentpage=1&id=382&countyid=18&club_id=&sportid=1

http://www.limerick.ie/living/thingstodo/attractions/sportingvenues/limerickgaapaircnangael/

Ruairi Bourke(11132612)

Colbert Station

Colbert Station is located on Parnell Street, in the city centre.  The site serves as the city's transport hub, facilitating the regional and intercity train and bus termini of Iarnród Éireann and Bus Éireann.

The station was designed by Sancton Wood and  built in 1849 during the famine. It was renamed to Colbert Station in 1966 in honour of Cornelius "Conn" Colbert, an Irish rebel from Limerick who fought in the 1916 Easter Rising .

Today, the station is bustling. However evidence of purposeful modernisation is nowhere to be found. The legacy design, historic as it may be, along with the subsequent (apparently) ad-hoc repurposing of indoor and outdoor space amounts to a dysfunctional and aesthetically nauseating visitor experience. One glance at the décor, a higgledy-piggledy pastiche of 19th century engineering and what I'm guessing is turn-of-the-century to 1980s Irish interior design could very well be the deciding factor in a brave passenger's failure to subdue what was, up-until-then, an heroically postponed vomit.

Readers who visit the Wikipedia page will be surprised to learn that the beautiful Westlife once descended on Colbert's platforms 1 & 2 to shoot part of the video to the admittedly brilliant pop ballad, My Love. Although I recommend viewing the whole thing so as not to miss the finely acted intro, skip to 01:35 to see the relevant shots (WARNING: Close-ups of Brian McFadden).

While I frequent the station regularly on the commute from Ennis I have nothing of significance to report so far. I have however observed that, of late, my relationship with the attractive ticket office woman whom I hurry past vacantly with stone-faced determination every morning is not progressing as hoped.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colbert_station 

 

Is this a member of Westlife searching for his dignity? ... No.

View Larger Map Pádhraig O'Donoghue (0350788)

Bullman's Tattoo Studio.

Front of the shop.

If like me you are a tattoo/piercing enthusiast such as myself then I recommend you check out Bullman's Tattoo Studio. I found out about this little gem on my first visit to Limerick City ever. 


It is situated underneath The Zip Yard at 15 Thomas Street which made it kind of hard to find. Danny Bullman , the bossman of this studio, has been tattooing for 11 years and has won an abundance of awards for his artistry and I think this is a clear indication that he is quite good at what he does for a living. Another indication that he's a top notch tattoo artist is the fact that the notorious punk rockers MISFITS band memebers have been tattooed by Danny personally. Danny Bullman takes pride in what he does and so has a strict age restriction in place. Unless you have a believeable fake ID, like my friends did the day we visited,  you will not recieve any form of body modification, piercing or tattoo. A strict hygiene policy is also in place, each neede that is used is opened in front of the customer as proof that they are sterilised and clean. 

Orla having her tattoo done.

 Bullman's isn't too pricey either with a base price of 25euro you can't go wrong. There's a wide range of tattoo portfolios for you to choose from and if there isn't a design that tickles your fancy, the artists can come up with a custom design for you. If you're interested in getting some work done check out the Gallery.



Sean Bullman is in charge of piercing. Anywhere you want pierced, Sean can do it.  


The guys in the studio are so laidback and down to earth and will answer any questions or queries you may have about tattoos or peircings. It's a quality place to go if you're looking to be inked.

Danny also has a Bebo page which is a little more up to date than the website. 



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Hannah Mac Allister 11122145.

The Stables Club

I decided to write about The Stables Club as although i visit it on a regular daily basis now, i first stumbled upon it on the web while looking through different links of services offered by the University of Limerick before attending the University myself. I was greatly interested in the description of The Stables Club as said on it's web page and will ellaborate as follows.

  

  The club has been open for a strong 21 years and has provided great services to students and staff alike in The University Of Limerick such as it's great daily food, musical events and of course, the great pint too. It offers great service with a hugely friendly staff, allowing people to relax and enjoy their time there in a fun and comfortable atmosphere.

Over the club's existance since 1987, it has become the focal point of campus life at The University Of Limerick. This is certainly easy to see from my point of view. Because of the events in which are held at the venue, student interest and interaction is greatly attracted. for example, every monday night an open mic night is held where anyone can get on stage, play guitar and sing a song or two, or just sing and get a free pint for their performance. I find this particulary good as i never really had that kind of thing at home in the south-east in my local bars or music venues where i could just go up and play a few songs. Aswell as this, there is a Battle Of The Bands night held once every semester which causes great ineterest and attention from students and staff in the University to see their own home-grown bands perform. It also holds a more light hearted and fun Kareoke Night every Wednesday night where anyone also looking for a free pint and perhaps lacking a bit of shame, might get up and belt out a bit of Tina Turner. I've seen it done, alot!

  Aswell as holding such music events for students to participate in, The Stables Club also holds many famous musical performances. This is what really got me interested in the club at first, in my first few weeks of college i got to see one of my favourite bands on stage in the club, Bipolar Empire. I even got to meet the lads out of the band afterwards, you don't really get to do that kind of thing at every music venue. Aswell as this, they have played host to acts such as The Coronas, Fight Like Apes, The Minutes, and many, many more.

  All in all, i felt The Stables Club would be a suitable topic of interest to write about. It really has something for everyone. The music, the craic, the food and the atmosphere.

(11149396)

St. John's Cathedral

It was through my membership in the UL Choral Society that I first discovered this magnificent cathedral. It was announced on the society's facebook page that we would be performing as part of the national choral singing week(and yes I was also surprised that such a thing does exist!). I was of course very nervous about the concert, not only was it my first performance as part of the group but also but my very first public singing performance!

We arrived at seven in the evening. The place was half full. Crowds of people were moving about, taking their seats. As we entered I was shocked by the sheer size of the place. As a non religious person I don't often visit churches or cathedrals so I was taken aback by the beauty and magnitude of the building. We took our assigned seats and waited for the show to begin. When our turn to sing came around we blasted out our powerful rendition of Weeping by Bright Blueand Adele’s Rolling in The Deep. The audience loved it! The size of the place created a lovely atmosphere that perfectly complemented the finale of Hallelujah.

When we were given this assignment I knew I had to go back. I discovered that the cathedral boasts the tallest church spire in all of Ireland, standing at 314 feet! 

I also discovered that the building is quite old. It was built in 1861 by the architect Philip Charles Hardwick, and has been in continuous use since then, which is a testament to the devout catholics of the area. 

The beautiful yet simplistic interior of St. Johns.

Just outside, on the cathedral grounds, stands a statue of Patrick Sarsfield.

Ciarán Keane(11126744)

Living Bridge

I have never been off UL campus unless I am going out for the night with my friends but a place that always interested me and many others is the “Living Bridge” or in Irish - “An Droichead Beo”.

The Living Bridge was probably the first reason I ever heard of The University of Limerick. Open in November 2007 and officially opened by President Mary McAleese 21st January 2008 It is The longest pedestrian bridge in Ireland with the intention of being designed to create an organic relationship with the environment with in my opinion is captured perfectly such in a delicate balance. The bridge is designed to perfection. What I mean by this is it does not overly stand out instead it laces The Shannon in a bracelet of silver, adding to its beauty.

For research I used the standard search engine Google.
According to http://www.ulf.ie/projects/the-pedestrian-living-bridge/ the platforms are designed to accommodate social gatherings, informal teaching sessions, music and dance performances, as well as a wide array of educational, social and cultural activities – all contributing to this facility’s status as a “living” bridge”.

Though my research into the bridge itself I found out that it was uniquely designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects and constructed by Eiffel (yes, that Eiffel).
It is the longest pedestrian bridge in Ireland with the intention of being designed to create an organic relationship with the environment. In my opinion it is captured perfectly such in a delicate balance. The bridge is designed to perfection. What I mean by this is it does not overly stand out instead it laces The Shannon in a bracelet of silver, adding to its beauty. Plus there is almost a Celtic feel to the bridge though the design of the lightweight steel’s curves and the purple and green lights which shine off it at night time. The bridge is almost like camouflage allowing pedestrians to really appreciate the beauty of nature around them.

I got a lot of my pictures from the site http://bocktherobber.com and the originals can be found here: http://bocktherobber.com/2007/11/the-university-of-limericks-living-bridge
Being intrigued by this I wanted to venture future into the commercial aspect of the bridge. www.lmkeating.ie let me see a clear synopsis of the bridge in money terms and other interesting facts such as; it being valued at 12m, the programme ran over 18 months and the bridge was re-located at the site of the original bridge.

(Original table:)
So now that I had some background on the bridge I decided to go and use the bridge for the first time. I could see straight away why they called it the living bridge; you could really feel the deck beneath your feet moving up and down, as though it’s alive. I took a few pictures of myself and my friends and we enjoyed the scenery on the walk back to Killmurry.
When I came home from lectures I went back onto Google to research further into the “Living Bridge” and I came across pictures of the bridge being built in a miraculous 5 days. http://www.wilkinsoneyre.com/projects/university-of-limerick-living-bridge.aspx?category=bridges




UL also played their part in keeping everyone up to date by posting on their website about the opening:

“President Mary McAleese will be on campus tomorrow to officially open the Living Bridge. As a consequence of this the Living Bridge will be closed from 9:30 to 12:30. All students are invited to attend this memorable occasion.” (http://www.ulsu.ie/news/living-bridge)

11123591 - Niamh Cooney

The Lodge Nightclub.

Assignment 2: Internet Resources connected to Limerick.

The Lodge Nightclub in Limerick City uses the internet as a resource on regular occasions. It is often seen to promote drink offers and special nights out on the social website Facebook and also uses Twitter where it has 148 followers. On their Twitter account they announced that they are launching a new website which will further engage them with using the internet as a resource.

On Thursday 27th of March the local newspaper entitled the Limerick Leader published an article about the numerous assaults which were occurring in the Lodge nightclub. A judge warned the licensee of the nightclub at the Kilmurry Lodge Hotel that if the recent ongoing problems at the premises—which saw five serious assaults occur there in the previous 3 months—were not resolved, it would be shut down. This was not good publicity for the nightclub which claimed to be the best one of its kind in the city of Limerick. The news got worse for the popular dance spot when it emerged that between December 20^th 2007 and March 18^th 2008, five serious assaults took place resulting in many young people being seriously injured, and that 2 of these victims were underage patrons.  “In the overall context since mid 2007 the Henry Street Garda Station District has dealt with 17 assaults causing bodily harm and five of them have been in the Kilmurry Lodge. Henry Street covers the city centre and areas as far Castleconnell," said Inspector John Kerin who was investigating the incidents. Pat Hoare, who is the licensee of the nightclub admitted that it was very difficult to keep track of the amount of underage drinkers going through the doors, seeing as the Lodge sees on average, around 50,000 people go through their doors on an annual basis. "Our night club is the one in Limerick that caters to the 18-23 years olds. Our customers are not sitting down with handbags and suits—they are a bit more lively than that," he said. These events were not good publicity for The Lodge Nightclub.

The article can be found at http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/local/limerick_night_club_owner_warned_1_2183588

The Belltable Arts Theatre

For my assignment, I decided to write about the Belltable Theatre, as it is quite well known in Limerick city, and I knew I would be attending it within the timeframe of the assignment. 

On the eve of the 27th of October, myself and two of my friends went to a show in this theatre. I have been playing guitar for 6 years now, and have switched teacher several times. However for 2 years I have stuck with my current teacher, Johnny, as he is a very talented man and had a very successful band in the 60's, known as "Granny's Intentions." My friend Alex was the person who originally introduced me to Johnny, as he also attended lessons with him, and nevertheless we were very excited to hear that in October, Granny's would be doing a reunion gig in their home of Limerick for the first time in over 40 years. Our friend Aaron who is also a very gifted musician accompanied us, as he knows Johnny through the Limerick School of Music. 

The Belltable recently refurbished their theatre hall, to accommodate a larger audience in greater comfort. This was my first time seeing the refurbishment as it has been many years since I was previously in the theatre. The result was that the theatre is now at a slanting angle, with everyone seated above the stage, although there really is no stage. This meant that it was quite difficult indeed to capture a successful clear photograph of the band, especially due to the exceedingly tall man seated directly in front of me. My best attempt shall be posted below momentarily.

Interestingly, Aaron, Alex and myself were by far the youngest members of the audience, with Johnny's daughter being the only exception. A man beside us joked, "Thanks for coming in and sitting down lads, you brought the average age down to about 63," to which I replied, "Don't be ambitious my dear man, I would've said 64." The band were exceptional, as all of the remaining original members have made a career out of music, either as teachers or songwriters. If you didn't know it was the first time these people had performed together in roughly 40 years, you would have imagined they had been playing professionally ever since the 60's.

The man in white is Mr. Johnny Hockady himself! Overall, the performance was highly enjoyable, and we went for a few drink with the band afterwards, (a few too many at that), before calling it a night.
The Belltable is a fantastic theatre which hosts shows of all varieties, from musical to drama's and every member of the audience leaves feeling their money was well spent. I would highly encourage anyone looking for a different sort of entertainment to go and enjoy a show at the Belltable.
Their listings can be found at their website, which is located at Belltable Website.

Thank you for reading my blog,
Kieran O'Sullivan - 11118679

King John's Castle (11142219)

I was on the bus home from college last week and as the bus was passing through the city I was keeping a look out for interesting buildings which I could have wrote about for this assignment. When passing over the Thomond Bridge I noticed a very big, old castle alongside it. I took the bus back up to limerick on Sunday evening and visited the college library the next morning to see if I could find the castle I saw. So I searched “castles in limerick city” on Google and was very surprised to see about 10 million results to my search. Luckily, the castle I was looking for showed up first on the first page of results. http://www.shannonheritage.com/Attractions/KingJohnsCastle/. The castle is called King John’s Castle and it was clear from the different websites that it has quite a lot of history to it.

The next day me and my housemate went into the city to visit the castle. When we got there, there was quite a lot of people outside the grounds of the castle taking pictures and after standing around them for just a few minutes we could tell they were tourists because of their accents. After witnessing all this it was clear that King John’s Castle is quite a popular tourist location but after seeing the castle first hand and after getting a more in-depth knowledge of the castles history from a trip to the visitor’s centre it was no surprise.

The staff of the visitor’s centre were happy to help anyone out, and offered tours of the castle however I felt I picked up enough information from the posters on the walls and leaflets lying around. The first permanent stronghold built on the same grounds of what is now known as King John’s castle was in fact built by Limerick Vikings, who were lead by Thormodr Helgasen the Viking Sea-King, in the late 10^th Century. They used the stronghold as a base to raid the length of the river Shannon but were defeated a number of times and eventually had to pay tribute to the King of Munster.

In 1174 the city was then burned to the ground due to the arrival of the Anglo-Normans and soon after they took control of the whole area. Under the orders of King John in 1200 a new castle was built over the ruins of the first one. Today the 800 year old castle still stands strong despite the numerous amounts of seiges and attacks it came under.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlvwaQ3uCb0

Thomond Park

Introduction:


For my assignment I chose to study Thomond Park rugby pitch. This famous ground is located in the centre of Limerick city and has been home to the munster rugby team for over sixty years. The venue is renowned worldwide for its unique atmosphere and passionate local supporters. It has played host to historic matches such as Munster vs New Zealand (1978, 2008), Ireland vs Barbarians (2010). Along with rugby matches it has also hosted the special olympics opening ceremony and concerts by Pink, Elton John, and Bob Dylan.

Trip to Thomond Park:

As an avid Munster rugby fan I have already visited Thomond Park on numerous occasions. My most enjoyable expierence of Thomond park was when i went to Munster vs All Blacks in 2008. 26,000 people filled the stadium in what was to be a memorable night for all involved. Munster produced a great performance but lost out in the end by 2 points. New Zealand wing Joe Rokocoko scored a try in the dying moments to clinch the game for the All Blacks. I was impressed by the sheer size of the stadium, which combined with the complicated-looking structural supports create a magnificent arena. The day before the match my father and I went on a tour of the stadium. We got to visit the museum where we watched a short film and looked at famous Munster memorabilia. Afterwards we visited the home and away dressing rooms, Munster dugouts and were treated to pitchside views of the playing pitch.

Each year thousands of people visit the historic ground for a variety of reasons. The majority choose to go to see the home of Munster rugby, however Thomond Park has also hosted a wide range of exibitions, seminars, gala dinners, fashion shows and even weddings! There is also a top class standard of catering provided by is on-site partners 'Masterchefs Munster'. 

Links:

Pictures: http://www.bancrete.com/assets/images/projects/stadia/1tp.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1w_dsJIOPJA/TmcDzBUwNEI/AAAAAAAAiJ4/Xvo5i970BiI/s640/Munster%252Bv%252BNew%252BZealand%252B2b84r9i9ksCl.jpg

Websites:

http://www.thomondpark.ie/stadium-info/overview

http://www.thomondpark.ie/museum/information


Martin Holleran
11134143

Limerick Greyhound Stadium

 Limerick Greyhound Stadium was newly opened on the 8th October 2010. it is located in Greenpark, Dock Road Limerick city .It is modeled on the Cork Greyhound Stadium.There is an attached three story headquarters building for the IGB (Irish Greyhound Board).I found out about the stadium by looking at www.tripadvisor.ie .There are many positive reviews from tourists from outside of Ireland.The new Limerick Greyhound Stadium also has its own Facebook page where news about upcoming events is regularly updated.the page informs about special offers and special events also.Regular opening hours are from 6:30pm - 11:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays but sometimes the stadium is open during the week for special events like charity fundraisers.When i went to visit the stadium it was closed but i did get a good look at the place.

  I went to visit the stadium and was very impressed.From the outside the building is very stylish.It is a 5 story building.There is a 190 seat restaurant and dining areas inside,gallery bars,private hospitality suites and also tiered viewing areas.The stadium can hold over 200 people.There is lots of parking spaces, and a large kennel block .It is a very nice facility and a cutting edge sports building.

The stadium recently hosted the Kerry Agribusiness Irish St. Leger.It was the biggest event to take place in the limerick racing calender and is the second time that the race has taken place since the Limerick Greyhound Stadium's opening in October 2010.The event was a great success with a large turnout of people and a great night of greyhound racing was had by all. There is a great video of the Kerry Agribusiness Irish St. Leger Final 2011 posted on youtube by the IGB. Peter Muligan's dog What A Tornado was the dog that won the ledger at 2/1 in a time of 29.58 seconds.

Sean Grace 11131268