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Historic Ireland |
Visiting Limerick In Historic IrelandA "" FactsheetLeaving ~Limerick Junction~, between it and Limerick City, there are few places of interest. The country side is very rich, and is the centre of the Creamery Co-operative system. At Boher is Glenstal, the residence of Sir Charles Barrington. The demesne contains the Ilchester Oaks, with which the country people associate a romance. The story is told in detail in Lefanu's "Seventy Years of Irish Life." At Caghercullen, which is now part of Glenstal Demesne, early in the last century lived Squire O'Grady, an old _grandee_ of Limerick; he was a fox-hunting widower, and his beautiful and only daughter was the cynosure of all eyes. When she came out at a Limerick hunt ball the little beauty captivated Lord Stourdale--eldest son to Lord Ilchester who was then with his regiment at Limerick. O'Grady's keen eye soon discerned that the young people were falling in love with each other. Proud of his family as the Irishman was, he feared his position was such that an English lord may not look on an alliance with favour. He wrote a friendly letter to Lord Ilchester--in order to prevent trouble--saying that, as an elder man, he perceived that his son was about getting into a scrape, and it would be well to have him brought home or sent on active service. Stourdale disappeared; and Lord Ilchester wrote thanking the squire, and notifying that an old military friend--a Colonel Prendergast--would call and thank him personally. The colonel came in good time, and partook of O'Grady's hospitality. As he was leaving, he mentioned to the squire that he thought his beautiful daughter was falling into bad health. O'Grady, with brusque confidence, said that she had been fooling about Stourdale, but would soon forget him. Lovers will rejoice at the sequel of the romance. Colonel Prendergast discovered himself as Lord Ilchester, and expressed his gratification at the possibility of having such a wife for his son. There was the usual happy marriage; and the present Earl of Ilchester and the present Earl of Lansdowne, can claim descent from Maureen O'Grady.~Limerick~.--Like most of the Munster seaboard towns, it was built by the Danes; and it was the cock-pit of the fights between the Ostmen and the warlike clans who followed O'Brien's banner in the early centuries. It made history in Cromwell's days, and until recently the old house occupied by Ireton stood within its streets. Ireton sentenced many men of eminence to death during the short triumph of Cromwell. Among the most noble of the cavaliers who died at Limerick was Geoffrey Barron of Clonmel, a young Irish lawyer who acted as civil secretary to the Confederates. With exquisite cruelty he was sentenced to be executed upon the morning which had previously been fixed for his wedding. He asked, as a favour, that he should be permitted to wear his bridegroom attire on the scaffold, and Ireton granted the boon. He made a brave show amid the crop-eared Roundheads. "Taffeta as white as milk, Made all his suit. Threads of silver in the silk Trailed like moonlight through it. Silver cap and white feather, Stepping proud and high, In his shoon of white leather, Came Geoffrey Barron to die. Then the Roundhead general said, Fingering his sword-- Art thou coming to be wed, Like a heathen lord? "Go! thy pride thy scaffold is, Give her sigh for sigh. Breath for breath, and kiss for kiss, For Geoffrey Barron must die. But he laughed out as he ran Up the black steps; Never happier bridegroom man, With his wife's lips. If for mortal woman's sake, In silks should go I, I shall for heaven the same pains take, Now, Geoffrey Barron must die." But the name of Limerick scintillates in those glowing chapters in its country's history, when it stoutly withstood the valour and prowess of the great soldier-king, William of Orange. Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan, the beloved of damsels and dames, was the hero of this period. A handsome, large-limbed, brawny soldier, towering over the tallest of his dragoons, and true as the steel he wore, he was a fitting leader of a forlorn hope. Originally, one of the "Gentlemen of the Guard" under the Merrie Monarch, his defence of Limerick was a military achievement worthy of the ambition of any general; nor were his Williamite opponents slow to cordially appreciate his valour. But he was fated to die, "on a far, foreign field." The sieges of Limerick led up to its name of the City of the Broken Treaty. William of Nassau, having routed King James in August, 1690, invested the city with 35,000 men. Tyrconnel and Lauzun, Commander of the French allies, had cleared out, considering that the place could not be defended. Sarsfield, although not in command, with other kindred spirits, decided to defend the position. The heavy ordnance of the Williamites, while on the way to the scene of siege, was surprised at night at Ballyneety by Sarsfield and a hero called "Galloping O'Hogan," and the guns spiked and the ammunition mined and fired. Auxiliary artillery was, however, brought into camp, and the assault delivered. The guns breached the walls, the outworks were carried, but before the garrison could pour in, the townspeople--men and women--the latter, vieing in valour, flowed out and swept away all opposition. The siege was raised. But a year later, Ginckle again invested the place by land and sea. After three months' defence, Sarsfield agreed to capitulate, the chief conditions of the treaty being, that Catholics should be admitted to practice their religion without hindrance, and that the Jacobite garrison should march out with the honours of war. The latter condition was kept, but when Sarsfield and his regiments had gone beyond the seas, the former was shamefully violated. By the Thomond may be seen the Treaty Stone, on which the capitulation papers were signed, October 3rd, 1691. In the Cathedral place is the modern monument to Sarsfield. The castle, which was built by King John--now a store--is an excellent example of the military architecture introduced into Ireland by the Normans. The Shannon, the largest river in Ireland, flows through the city. Limerick lace is valued wherever people of taste are. The industry still thrives; but the former greatness of the glove manufacturers has departed. Bacon curing is the great industry of the city to-day, and the names of Denny, Matterson, and Shaw--the principal manufacturers--have become household words. The greatest factory in Limerick, however, is belonging to the famous Condensed Milk Company, organized through the enterprise of Sir Thomas Cleeve. The milk of some 15,000 cows contributes to the huge output of this great concern. ~*~ Research Provided By Teresa Thomas Bohannon |
Historic Ireland |
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