There are 102,161 people living in the Limerick City Metropolitan District. On 1 June 2014 following the merger of Limerick City and County Council a new Metropolitan District of Limerick was formed within the united council which extended the city area. The Metropolitan District includes the city urban area and extends outwards towards Patrickswell in the west and Castleconnell in the east. The City Metropolitan Area however excludes city suburbs located within County Clare. When included this increases the overall city and metropolitan area by a further 5,000 with a combined total population of 107,161.
Limerick is one of the constituent cities of the Cork–Limerick–Galway corridor which has a population of 1 million people. It is located at a strategic position on the River Shannon with four main crossing points near the city centre. To the south of the city is the Golden Vale, an area of rich pastureland. Historically, much of the city's industry was based on this rich agricultural hinterland and it is particularly noted for Limerick Ham.
Limerick City was a United Kingdom Parliament constituency, in Ireland. It returned one MP 1801–1832, two MPs 1832–1885 and one thereafter. It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801. It ceased to be represented in the United Kingdom Parliament in 1922.
a Re-elected in 1835 and 1837 as a candidate of a Liberal/Repealer pact.
b Resigned.
c Elected as a Liberal pledged to form an independent opposition in Parliament. He joined the Independent Irish Party when it was formed after the 1852 election.
Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.
A limerick is a form of poetry, especially one in five-line, predominantly anapesticmeter with a strict rhyme scheme (AABBA), which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent. The third and fourth lines are usually shorter than the other three.
The form appeared in England in the early years of the 18th century. It was popularized by Edward Lear in the 19th century, although he did not use the term.
The following limerick is of unknown origin:
The limerick packs laughs anatomical
Into space that is quite economical. But the good ones I've seen So seldom are clean
And the clean ones so seldom are comical.
^Feinberg, Leonard. The Secret of Humor. Rodopi, 1978. ISBN 9789062033706. p102
Gershon Legman, who compiled the largest and most scholarly anthology, held that the true limerick as a folk form is always obscene, and cites similar opinions by Arnold Bennett and George Bernard Shaw, describing the clean limerick as a "periodic fad and object of magazine contests, rarely rising above mediocrity". From a folkloric point of view, the form is essentially transgressive; violation of taboo is part of its function.
The "Limerick" is a traditional humorous drinking song with many obscene verses. The tune usually used for sung limericks is traditionally "Cielito Lindo," with the words arranged in the form of a limerick.
Recorded versions
The Limerick Song has been commercially recorded many times. The earliest version of limericks being sung is 1905 under the title Fol-The-Rol-Lol as sung by Edward M. Favor on Edison records. The earliest date for limericks being sung to the "Gay Caballero" tune is May 11, 1931 on the recording titled Rhymes sung by Jack Hylton which was issued on Decca records.
Printed versions
The earliest printed date for limericks being sung is 1928 in the book A Collection of Sea Songs and Ditties from the Stores of Tom E. Jones. Since many of the verses used for this song are bawdy the song tended to get issued in rare, underground mimeographed songbooks. Some of these are (in chronological order):
1934. Leech.
Variant choruses
There are several different choruses for this song. One of the most popular in the USA is sung to the tune of "Cielito Lindo" and usually goes like this:
The Constituency Commission proposed in 2007 that at the next general election a new constituency called Limerick be created.
It was established by the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009 when it partially replaced the former constituencies of Limerick East and Limerick West. Most of the rural parts of the Limerick East constituency were transferred to the Limerick constituency and the western parts of the Limerick West constituency were transferred to the Kerry North–West Limerick constituency. It was first only at the 2011 general election, electing 3 TDs.
The new directly elected mayor of Limerick... He added that Limerick - and other regional cities - were supposed to be growing at double the rate of Dublin yet there was "a huge disparity" in investment.
The victim of a serious assault by an army corporal on the streets of Limerick city centre back in 2022, nobody had ever heard of her until the court case involving her assailant reached Limerick Circuit Court last June.
Galway city saw a similar increase during the year, while in Limerick city, prices rose by 8.2% ... Average list price in Q4 2024 Dublin €442,909 +9% Cork city €347,26 +6.3% Limerick city €284,138 +8.2% ...
A festive gathering to celebrate the tradition of Christmas in Georgian times has taken place in Limerick city, marking its significant heritage and traditions from over 200 years ago.
The NUJ vigil in Limerick took place alongside a vigil held by the Limerick PalestineSolidarity group which meets regularly in Limerick city centre to highlight the ongoing war in Gaza and the wider ...
A man charged with murdering another man in Limerick city more than 17 years ago has been granted bail by the High Court... Mr Quinlivan was charged at a special sitting of Limerick ...
The lights of Limerick city were the highlight of those car journeys, where presents, puddings and boxes of USA biscuits were packed in around us as we looked forward to sharing it all with our grandparents ... Two places where I belong ... READ MORE ... .
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