Lost in Limerick
Wednesday October 19, 2005
On Wednesday morning I headed out to meet my cousins. I drive back southeast, past the Shannon Airport on towards Limerick City. I arrive at there late morning and drive around for a quick viewing and to get my bearings. I usually have a good sense of direction and this city seems like it is laid out on a pretty regular grid, but somehow it is confusing. I follow the signs for the information center – they lead me on a circuitous route that takes quite a while.
At noon I find the information center, and park in the garage across the street. The garage is attached to a small shopping center so I stop for lunch. This place is called Arthur’s Quay. There is a poster showing a map of the medieval Limerick sitting on an island in the River Shannon and surrounded by its wall. It turns our that for several centuries from when Limerick started having a mayor, the mayor was almost always a member of the Arthur family. Seeing the walled city ruled by Arthur, even though they are set in England, it makes me wonder if this formed any inspiration for the Arthurian books I love to read?
The Information Center is really a store – no free maps here. It seems nothing is free in Ireland – street side parking and even the use of public rest rooms is pay as you go. I suppose that is good but I kind of like not having to worry about having the right change in my pocket. I ask if there is nearby place where I can check my e-mail – I need to send out some things for the work in London next week. The woman at the counter directs me to the Library that the map in front of her says is also the location of the Ancestry Office. It was the Ancestry office that I paid to do the research on my Grandmother that resulted in the documentation to gain me foreign-born Irish citizenship. Since in the report they had suggested that there was information on generations preceding my great-grandparents, I had wanted to visit them anyway.
After walking about the number of blocks I had estimated from the map taped to the information center counter, I realized I was lost. I found a map on an information board in a pedestrian mall. I figured out where I needed to go and immediately set off in the opposite direction. Again I determined I had somehow made an error and returned to the map. I realized that is was upside down relative to where it was located. This time I found the Library but even though there was a sign saying it was here, I could not find the Ancestry Office. The woman in the Library informed me that the office had been permanently closed last February – very disappointing!
She also informed me that while I could use their computers to check my mail I could not use my own. She directed me to an Internet Café down the street. They said the same and directed me to another Internet Café near the bridge where I entered the city. I recognized his directions because I had noticed that the bridge was named the Sarsfield Bridge, which I remembered was my step-grandfather’s middle name – it is hard to forget a name like that. Since time was short I decided to check the trusty map on the information board. Yup, if I hadn’t checked, I again was about to head off in the opposite direction of where I needed to go.
I found the Internet Café, and finally successfully did something I set out to do. Turns out that it was located about one block from where I had parked the car two hours earlier. My wife would not be surprised that for me, Limerick sort of turned out to be a bad joke!
I continued southeast to Tipperary. I chuckled at the sign that said “Welcome to Tipperary – You’ve come a long, long way.” This seemed like a nice place. It was a bit larger than Tuam and also had a nice downtown. It had the first sign I had seen for “Free Public Parking.” It was about 3:00 and the children were getting out of school. It was nice seeing all the boys looking neat in their green sweaters, white shirts and green ties.
I was on the final leg now, heading back southwest into County Limerick. My grandmother grew up in Ballylanders in the south east corner of the county, near where the boundaries of Limerick, Tipperary and Cork intersect. Her niece Mary Martin lives one town over in Galbally (in Irish Bally means town, so this would be similar to a place name like Georgetown).
As I drove toward Galbally the countryside seemed much more familiar than Galway. Tree canopied roads with leaves beginning to turn. Rolling hills and small mountains with evergreens crowning their tops. Far fewer stonewalls.
At just about 3:30 I pulled into Galbally. It is smaller than Tuam and it too is an attractive little downtown. I found the Catholic Church. A man in a waiting car broke into a twinkling smile reminiscent of my grandmother and said “My name is Willie, follow me.”
On Wednesday morning I headed out to meet my cousins. I drive back southeast, past the Shannon Airport on towards Limerick City. I arrive at there late morning and drive around for a quick viewing and to get my bearings. I usually have a good sense of direction and this city seems like it is laid out on a pretty regular grid, but somehow it is confusing. I follow the signs for the information center – they lead me on a circuitous route that takes quite a while.
At noon I find the information center, and park in the garage across the street. The garage is attached to a small shopping center so I stop for lunch. This place is called Arthur’s Quay. There is a poster showing a map of the medieval Limerick sitting on an island in the River Shannon and surrounded by its wall. It turns our that for several centuries from when Limerick started having a mayor, the mayor was almost always a member of the Arthur family. Seeing the walled city ruled by Arthur, even though they are set in England, it makes me wonder if this formed any inspiration for the Arthurian books I love to read?
The Information Center is really a store – no free maps here. It seems nothing is free in Ireland – street side parking and even the use of public rest rooms is pay as you go. I suppose that is good but I kind of like not having to worry about having the right change in my pocket. I ask if there is nearby place where I can check my e-mail – I need to send out some things for the work in London next week. The woman at the counter directs me to the Library that the map in front of her says is also the location of the Ancestry Office. It was the Ancestry office that I paid to do the research on my Grandmother that resulted in the documentation to gain me foreign-born Irish citizenship. Since in the report they had suggested that there was information on generations preceding my great-grandparents, I had wanted to visit them anyway.
After walking about the number of blocks I had estimated from the map taped to the information center counter, I realized I was lost. I found a map on an information board in a pedestrian mall. I figured out where I needed to go and immediately set off in the opposite direction. Again I determined I had somehow made an error and returned to the map. I realized that is was upside down relative to where it was located. This time I found the Library but even though there was a sign saying it was here, I could not find the Ancestry Office. The woman in the Library informed me that the office had been permanently closed last February – very disappointing!
She also informed me that while I could use their computers to check my mail I could not use my own. She directed me to an Internet Café down the street. They said the same and directed me to another Internet Café near the bridge where I entered the city. I recognized his directions because I had noticed that the bridge was named the Sarsfield Bridge, which I remembered was my step-grandfather’s middle name – it is hard to forget a name like that. Since time was short I decided to check the trusty map on the information board. Yup, if I hadn’t checked, I again was about to head off in the opposite direction of where I needed to go.
I found the Internet Café, and finally successfully did something I set out to do. Turns out that it was located about one block from where I had parked the car two hours earlier. My wife would not be surprised that for me, Limerick sort of turned out to be a bad joke!
I continued southeast to Tipperary. I chuckled at the sign that said “Welcome to Tipperary – You’ve come a long, long way.” This seemed like a nice place. It was a bit larger than Tuam and also had a nice downtown. It had the first sign I had seen for “Free Public Parking.” It was about 3:00 and the children were getting out of school. It was nice seeing all the boys looking neat in their green sweaters, white shirts and green ties.
I was on the final leg now, heading back southwest into County Limerick. My grandmother grew up in Ballylanders in the south east corner of the county, near where the boundaries of Limerick, Tipperary and Cork intersect. Her niece Mary Martin lives one town over in Galbally (in Irish Bally means town, so this would be similar to a place name like Georgetown).
As I drove toward Galbally the countryside seemed much more familiar than Galway. Tree canopied roads with leaves beginning to turn. Rolling hills and small mountains with evergreens crowning their tops. Far fewer stonewalls.
At just about 3:30 I pulled into Galbally. It is smaller than Tuam and it too is an attractive little downtown. I found the Catholic Church. A man in a waiting car broke into a twinkling smile reminiscent of my grandmother and said “My name is Willie, follow me.”
posted by J Corlss at
5:08 AM
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