Lonely Planet praises lush county Limerick

Amazotheamazing

Lonely Planet praises ‘lush’ areas of county Limerick


By Alan Owens
Published on Monday 23 January 2012 13:07

SOME of county Limerick’s most picturesque areas have been forever framed for posterity in the world’s most famous travel guide.

The latest Irish edition of the Lonely Planet, a fixture among travellers worldwide, includes an extensive write-up on areas of county Limerick, with tourist sites getting extensive recognition.

“County Limerick is closely tied to its namesake city, which has a history as dramatic as Ireland’s,” reads the introduction to the section.

“Treasures abound in its lush, green countryside,” continues the guide, praising the many “ancient Celtic sites, medieval abbeys and other relics, [which] endure in solitude, awaiting discovery”.

The guidebook claims to be the world’s leading travel content provider and the tenth edition of Lonely Planet Ireland was produced just last week with the newly updated guide to the region.

Well known hotels Adare Manor and the Dunraven are listed among the best places to stay, while the reader is encouraged to “take in the Shannon water vistas while wandering Limerick’s back roads via the centuries-old ruins at Askeaton and the fascinating flying boat museum at Foynes” - which gets a thorough write up.

“Deliberate over mouthwatering restaurant menus in the charming thatched heritage town of Adare,” the guide urges, before visiting “the haunting archaeological sites around Lough Gur”.

The latter in particular gets a glowing write-up, the guide’s writer lauding the “dozens of intriguing archaeological sites” in the area, including Grange Stone Circle, a “superb” 4000-year-old circular enclosure made up of 113 embanked upright stones.

Kilmallock’s “smattering of medieval buildings merit a visit”, we are told, with the town’s medieval stone mansion, King’s Castle, museum, Dominican priory and Collegiate Church all coming in for praise, as does the “excellent” Friars’ Gate Theatre.

Adare’s reputation as Ireland’s “prettiest village” is mentioned, along with an extensive list of sights and sounds of this “postcard-perfect village” which is a “popular romantic getaway for many Irish visitors at weekends, when you’ll also find Adare at its most vibrant”, it adds.

A spokesperson for the guide said that a team of writers personally visited thousands of hotels, restaurants, cafes, bars, galleries, museums and more in compiling it.

Amazotheamazing

For such a small town, Kilmallock has some fascinating history. Not just the ruins, but the history of battles etc. So, Limerickites, what's your favourite part of County Limerick, let's exclude the suburbs like Annacotty and Castleconnell (both lovely places) for practicalities sake.

Heard the woods in Glenstal are great, haven't been since I was a kid. Ballyhoura deserves a mention too.

electrobanana

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

For such a small town, Kilmallock has some fascinating history. Not just the ruins, but the history of battles etc. So, Limerickites, what's your favourite part of County Limerick, let's exclude the suburbs like Annacotty and Castleconnell (both lovely places) for practicalities sake.

Heard the woods in Glenstal are great, haven't been since I was a kid. Ballyhoura deserves a mention too.

Is Castleconnell classed as the suburbs these days?

Itsdacraic

I saw Askeaton on the news regarding the water outage and thought the castle looked very impressive in the background with the river running beside it. Do they get many tourists there and is there tours etc of the castle? They have also have an impressive Abbey which you can see from the by-pass.

JerryHandbag

Adare, pretty village, world class golf course, Manor hotel & plenty other nice B&Bs, heritage centre, great pubs & restaurants and I never notice any tracksuit-wearing undesirable youths congregating like in many other towns/villages.

Ballyhoura country in the south east of the county is a nice spot too, its trails for biking and walking are very handy & I get out there trekking as often as I can.

Also, the coastal drive along the Shannon estuary, especially on a sunny day is class imo, from Askeaton/Foynes all the way to Tarbert inside the Kerry border. Glin Foynes & Loughill always look very well kept when I pass through on that route.

I'll never listen to anybody that says there's nothing to do or see in county Limerick!