limerick

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Limerick
Luimneach
Limerick
Limerick (Ireland)
Red pog.svg
Coordinates 52 ° 40 ′  N , 8 ° 38 ′  W Coordinates: 52 ° 40 ′  N , 8 ° 38 ′  W
Symbols
coat of arms
coat of arms
Motto
" Urbs Antiqua Fuit Studiisque asperrima Belli "
(The old city was at war zeal very defiant.)
Basic data
Country Ireland

province

Muenster
county limerick
surface 2079 km²
Residents 56,779 (2011)
density 27.3  Ew. / km²
Telephone code +353/61
Website www.limerickcity.ie (English)
King John's Castle
King John's Castle

Limerick ( Irish : Luimneach, [ ɫɪmʲˈnʲax ]) is the capital of County Limerick in the province of Munster in the southwest of the Republic of Ireland . The city has 56,779 inhabitants, with suburbs 90,778 inhabitants (as of 2011). It is the historical center of the region and, in some areas, the center of the west of Ireland.

The largest river in Ireland, the Shannon , flows through the city and flows into the Atlantic Ocean behind Limerick as the Shannon Estuary .

history

Limerick on the Shannon - steel engraving around 1840
Districts of Limerick

prehistory

middle Ages

The city has been a Viking settlement since 812 , but there is evidence of earlier settlements in the area. Brian Boru drove the Vikings out of Limerick. The Normans rebuilt the city in the 12th century , adding to the city 's architecture through structures such as King John's Castle , Limerick's most famous tourist attraction, and St. Mary's Cathedral .

Modern times

The city played an important role during the civil wars in the 17th century. It was besieged by Oliver Cromwell in 1651 and twice by the Williamites in the 1690s , after which the dispute with the Treaty of Limerick was ended. Limerick has always enjoyed relative prosperity thanks to its privileged location and the center of a large surrounding area. For a long time, a series of British laws prevented Limerick from fully exploiting its role as a port city. British ports such as Liverpool retained supremacy . Irish port cities were unable to exploit their location factor and transatlantic trade was not conducted through Ireland. In addition, Ireland's economic development was very slow. Most of Ireland specialized in the manufacture of agricultural products. The nationwide famine ( Great Famine ) caused the economic decline of the city from 1845, which could only be broken from the 1960s. From April 15 to April 27, 1919, the city was under self-government during the so-called Limerick Soviet .

Limerick is also known for drug smuggling in Europe, which is controlled by two rival gangs, the Dundon and the Keane Callopy clan. In November 2008 the rugby player Shane Geoghagan was killed in the drug war when he got between the fronts of the warring clans.

In a flood on February 1, 2014, large parts of the city were flooded after the Shannon overflowed in several places in the city.

politics

mayor

The Mayor of Limerick is elected annually in June by the City Council. Kieran O'Hanlon of the Fianna Fáil has been head of the city since June 27, 2016 .

City Council

With the Local Government Reform Act 2014 , the previous Limerick City Council and Limerick County Council were merged to form Limerick City and County Council .

coat of arms

Coat of arms until 2009

Blazon : "In red a black grooved silver Torburg with a spitzdomig covered and with a Tatzenkreuz occupied, crenellated central part in a round-arched black gate with halbgezogenem portcullis and five square black holes about flanked by two crenellated conical circular towers, each with a black window above a black cross notch, protruding base and upper part. "

Patonce Cross

Since 2009: “In red, a black grooved silver gate castle with a pointed dome roofed and tinned central part decorated with a Patonce cross , inside a round-arched red gate with half-drawn portcullis and three cross notches above, flanked by two tinned round towers, each with a black round-arched window, protruding base and upper part in perspective, surrounded in a circle with the Latin motto 'URBS ANTIQUA FUIT' above and 'STUDIISQUE ASPERRIMA BELLI' below the shield, separated by two square crosses. "

The motto is a shortened quote from Virgil's Aeneid , Book 1, verses 12-14. There this formulation refers to the city of Carthage.

Twin cities

Limerick has partnerships with the following cities and local authorities:

There are various friendly contacts and exchange programs with the citizens of Cloppenburg in Lower Saxony .

economy

Limerick is considered the economic heart of the Midwest Region , often referred to as the Shannon Region . Some multinational companies have production facilities here, according to chip maker Analog Devices .

The computer manufacturer Dell closed its factory in 2009. He moved it to Łódź in Poland and laid off 1,900 employees.

Shannon Airport , one of Ireland's most important airports, is not far .

education

Along with Dublin and Cork , Limerick is one of the most important centers for higher education in Ireland. It houses the University of Limerick with about 11,000 students. and the Limerick Institute of Technology with approximately 3900 students.

The University of Limerick is located about five kilometers east of the city center in the suburb of Castletroy . It was established in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education . In 1989 it was named the first university in the Republic of Ireland. The university has great popularity in the engineering sciences , computer science, the materials science , the sports sciences , the humanities , the education , the social sciences as well as in musicology achieved. In 2007 the medical department was inaugurated. The Irish World Music Center specializes in traditional music as well as traditional dance. It also hosts the Irish Chamber Orchestra . The university also offers a wide range of leisure activities and the necessary facilities. The university's sports complex has the first continuous 50 meter swimming lane in Ireland, which is one of the reasons why the national swimming team trains here.

Buildings

Limerick Roman Catholic Cathedral

Limerick in the media

Limerick plays an important role in the autobiographical novel The Ashes of My Mother by Frank McCourt and its film adaptation of the same name. Opened in 2011, the Frank McCourt Museum is located in Frank's former school on Harstonge Street and contains many artifacts from the book as well as Frank McCourt's ashes. In Limerick in particular, criticism was loud that McCourt described the city and the time in his memoirs inappropriately and insultingly.

Personalities

sons and daughters of the town

Associated with Limerick

Web links

Commons : Limerick  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Limerick  - explanations of meanings, origins of words, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

Article in the Sunday Mirror about reactions to Angela's Ashes

  1. Georges 1913 on zeno.org
  2. Limerick City Motto ( Memento from November 8, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  3. Presentation of the drug situation on guardian.co.uk
  4. ^ Army called in as Limerick faces 'unprecedented' floods , The Irish Times , February 1, 2014
  5. ^ Limerick website , accessed November 24, 2016
  6. Description of the coat of arms on visit.limerick (pdf) ( Memento from December 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  7. Limerick City Council - Sister Cities and Twinnings Management , accessed November 24, 2016
  8. zeit.de 2009: unemployed and burned down in Dublin. - Ireland was considered a model country, now it is becoming a model case of the crisis: Nowhere else in the EU are corporate, real estate and financial problems so massive.
  9. Resources for media on ul.ie ( Memento from October 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  10. Annual report 2008/2009 ( Memento from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ^ Critique of the author Frank McCourt