A Day tripper's experience of Limerick

bobbyss

Took bus to Limerick. Spent half a day there.
Bus / Train Station: I felt I had to wash myself in hot water when I left. Absolutely filthy. Old. Unkempt. The last time I was there it was exactly the same. Must be a depressing place to work in. Why don't they clean/ fumigate it.

Some fine looking buildings. Opposite the train station was the Railway Hotel. Fine building but I think closed and looking dirty and filthy.

Huge empty space outside the station. What's going on there? Seemed like a waste and all concrete.
Lots of foreigners around.
Overall impression was a shabby place.
The people in the shops were very friendly and warm.

That accent! I thought Cork was bad but Limerick seems to be some kind of cross of Cork and the even worse Kerry.

That place outside Arthur's Quay. Was it a tourist office? Now empty and falling apart. Shabby. Noticed a few characters lazing about in the adjacent park.

Third biggest city in the country should offer more.

endacl

Thanks for the insightful (or probably more accurately 'inciteful'), well-considered and balanced report.

Now do Athlone. For the craic, like.

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

bobbyss wrote: »

Took bus to Limerick. Spent half a day there.
Bus / Train Station: I felt I had to wash myself in hot water when I left. Absolutely filthy. Old. Unkempt. The last time I was there it was exactly the same. Must be a depressing place to work in. Why don't they clean/ fumigate it.

Some fine looking buildings. Opposite the train station was the Railway Hotel. Fine building but I think closed and looking dirty and filthy.

Huge empty space outside the station. What's going on there? Seemed like a waste and all concrete.
Lots of foreigners around.
Overall impression was a shabby place.
The people in the shops were very friendly and warm.

That accent! I thought Cork was bad but Limerick seems to be some kind of cross of Cork and the even worse Kerry.

That place outside Arthur's Quay. Was it a tourist office? Now empty and falling apart. Shabby. Noticed a few characters lazing about in the adjacent park.

Third biggest city in the country should offer more.

Can you review Tipp Town next please.

splinter65

How awful for someone of your caliber and class OP to have to lower yourself to spend a half day in the midst of dirty foreigners speaking in funny accents. And to then take the trouble to give us your considered opinion. I think I speak for all of us when I say you need never have to do it again.

Phileas Frog

bobbyss wrote: »

Lots of foreigners around.

Dey tuk owr jawbs!

TheDiceMan2020

The station is a kip, even after the revamp. The grey slab of space outside is a gigantic waste. The railway hotel is filthy. The old tourist office too. Arthur's Quay is a magnet to layabouts.

So a lot of that is correct.

bobbyss

It's an honest impression of a little time spent there. Which parts do you disagree with?

Forgot to mention a lovely all day breakfast. Upstairs in that centre beside Arthur Quay park. Service excellent.

In all seriousness it was disappointing trip. Noticed many fine looking buildings but upon closer examination they looked empty and shabby. Coming from Galway I couldn't help but notice the buzz and energy around the city compared to Limerick.
Apologies if any of this upsets.

Hedgelayer

Limericks ok it's not as bad as it looks.
It has a Charles Dickens charm about it.

Wealth, middle class and working classes all mingling together in the milk market on a Saturday morning drinking coffee together, smoking cigars and rollies....
Those old Limerick charms and wit, class in Limerick is quite compatible as they all like talking rugby and hurling.
Nice smell's of aromatic plants and food wafting through the air.

People from all over sub Saharan Africa mixing with the locals....

You won't be walking off the train in Limerick for fear of walking into a syringe that's for sure.

It's a great place.

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

bobbyss wrote: »

It's an honest impression of a little time spent there. Which parts do you disagree with?

I don’t disagree with you. Every city is like that though. You did choose to post this in the Limerick forum though, people are gonna get their knickers in a twist. I’d rather live in Limerick than Dublin though, the chances of stepping on junkies shít are a lot lower here.

bobbyss

I posted this in the Limerick forum precisely because I wanted to know from Limerick people themselves if any of it resonates. No upset intended. Are my impressions correct? The station? That hotel? Fine but decrepit buildings?
Let's be honest here.

endacl

endacl wrote: »

Thanks for the insightful (or probably more accurately 'inciteful'), well-considered and balanced report.

Now do Athlone. For the craic, like.

Well, I suppose we could give the OP credit not saying "Lads" .
Otherwise with regard to the OP I would expect a better quality post from a millennial who joined boards in June 2019 though.

anthony4335

Every city has its pit falls and its little charms. Unfortunately you only seem to have seen it pit falls. Limerick does not benefit from the tourist trade like Dublin and Galway so is very much a country city, where it really only comes alive during the weekend, try the locke bar on a sunny Friday or like a previous poster stated the milk market on a Saturday. As for buildings you really need to stray from the city center a few mins to see one of the longest unbroken Georgian streets in Ireland. And what is with the comment about foreigners?
Just as a note I am not from Limerick.

bobbyss

anthony4335 wrote:

Every city has its pit falls and its little charms. Unfortunately you only seem to have seen it pit falls. Limerick does not benefit from the tourist trade like Dublin and Galway so is very much a country city, where it really only comes alive during the weekend, try the locke bar on a sunny Friday or like a previous poster stated the milk market on a Saturday. As for buildings you really need to stray from the city center a few mins to see one of the longest unbroken Georgian streets in Ireland. And what is with the comment about foreigners? Just as a note I am not from Limerick.

I agree. I only saw the city centre.

I noticed a lot of non Irish around. Same for Gort when bus pulled up. Brazilians I think. Lot of foreigners around Galway too.

There a much more youthy feel to Galway and I agree with poster above re tourists. They throng around Galway but hardly noticeable in Limerick.

Meant to visit the Hunt Museum but didn't get round to it.

Also wanted to check out the city library to see what it was like.

topper75

The foreigners comment could mean a few things.

It could mean the OP is a xenophobic bigot who cannot abide the presence of non-nationals.

It could also simply mean disappointment at the displacement of locals - a disillusionment at not seeing Limerick people in Limerick as imagined.
Which is quite OK. I have felt similarly in London and Paris. The north inner city of Dublin is also experiencing this.

The rent is much cheaper around the railway station then it would be going towards O'Connell Street and the Newtown Pery district. Hence foreign businesses locate there and attract the corresponding footfall.

I would agree about the hotel comment. It would have been far better for the city to buy these blocks and gentrify the first things that tourists are likely to see, rather than say the Cleeves factory that is nowhere near any path beaten by tourists.

Limerick traditionally wasn't a tourist city but it ought to be as third city. It has nice stuff to show off. It is already there: heritage, culture, sports, riverside walks. Just need to make it easy for people. The tourist office should be right there on that plaza outside the station. If you make things piss simple for people, they immediately start to warm to the place.

I'll give credit to bobbyss - he gave the place a shot. It boils my blood when other Irish snipe from afar without ever even visiting Limerick.

davo2001

Can't say I disagree with the OP, the train station is a kip and full of junkies. It gives a really bad first impression of the city weither people like it or not.

Arthur's Quay park, same thing, not as bad as it used to be though.

I've been in the cafe upstairs for two out of four Saturday mornings / afternoons for some breakfast recently, grand spot, food is fine and staff as polite, on both occasions though there were knackers literally boxing the ****e out of each other either in the park or outside the side entrance to Arthur's quay. This was in the middle of the day, both times, not a gaurd in site.

Limerick city does have its good points, the market on Saturday morning, the lock on a sunny day etc but Christ it really doesn't do itself any favours.

keane2097

Train/bus stations are kips in every city in the world.

Lackadaisical

I'm from Cork and Dublin via quite a few other cities on the continent and the US. I haven't been in Limerick in quite a long time and have never really spent any time there beyond a quick drive though while on the way to the Northwest from Cork, so I had my first proper wander around the city centre recently.

I honestly can't say that it gave me a bad impression. It seems fairly neat, tidy and friendly at least from the impression I got. It had plenty of nice cafes and restaurants with a bit of personality.

The only negative comment I would make is that it doesn't make much of a connection with the Shannon in the city centre due to the mini-grid kind of layout.

Also there's a large, quite old looking Eir exchange building on Roches Street which is probably the ugliest building I have ever seen anywhere. They should be ashamed of themselves for not doing something with that monstrosity, even putting up a false facade just to hide the thing would be helpful!

Other than that though, it seemed pretty pleasant to me.

But to be quite honest, I find the whole (insert city name) is a kip and it's usually targeted at Dublin, Cork or Limerick really isn't particularly accurate or useful. It's just Irish GAA-shirt mentality parochialism. All cities have some degree of problematic areas and architecture. I could focus on every negative in London, Paris, NYC, Amsterdam, Brussels etc etc and ignore all the positives and describe them as utter dumps too, but it wouldn't be reality.

bobbyss

topper75 wrote:

The foreigners comment could mean a few things.

topper75 wrote:

It could mean the OP is a xenophobic bigot who cannot abide the presence of non-nationals.

topper75 wrote:

It could also simply mean disappointment at the displacement of locals - a disillusionment at not seeing Limerick people in Limerick as imagined. Which is quite OK. I have felt similarly in London and Paris. The north inner city of Dublin is also experiencing this.

Displacement may be a more useful way to describe the reference to foreigners. In the A Quay restraunt many of the staff there were non Irish. That's perfectly fine except it led to a communication problem with an order going wrong. But in Galway as well there are tons of foreigners which adds to the cosmopolitan vibe. Gort I am sure benefited in the same way. The xenophobic charge is disappointing I have to say.

I was on foot by the way and mindful getting a bus back to Galway so my time was limited.

(Just on that point I would have been in Limerick maybe three years ago, again by bus but this time the entrance was via a tunnel which I never knew existed. )

To the poster above who said to visit Athlone well lo and behold I did visit it last year and I am pretty sure I did write about that day trip in the Midlands forum. Again in that forum to see did my comments resonate with the locals. Athlone because you can step off the train and you are in the town.

Lackadaisical

Well when you're making a list of negatives about somewhere and included "Lots of foreigners around" as what reads like on of the points in the list, it does read as xenophobia to be fair.

Also port cities were always quite diverse. Would you have been giving out about my 18th and 19th century Dublin French ancestors too for not being sufficiently Dublin enough for you?

bobbyss

Lackadaisical wrote:

Well when you're making a list of negatives about somewhere and included "Lots of foreigners around" as what reads like on of the points in the list, it does read as xenophobia to be fair.

I appreciate it may come across that way.

But if I noticed a lot of foreigners around do you yourself think I should not have mentioned it?

Hal3000

Most of our large towns are like this. I feel sorry for any tourist that ends up outside Connolly Station. Cork is also similar, walking out the door of the Clayton hotel is very depressing. Galway is probably an exception to the rule.

If I was recommending Ireland I would say pass through all major towns. Go to Kerry, West Cork, Connemara and Donegal. So many nice little villages. Avoid any of our depressing cities.

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

I think what the OP means is there's a lot of this, especially around the train station.

bobbyss

Hunky Monster wrote:

I think what the OP means is there's a lot of this, especially around the train station.

Clearly not reading my posts

mgbgt1978

Lackadaisical wrote: »

Well when you're making a list of negatives about somewhere and included "Lots of foreigners around" as what reads like on of the points in the list, it does read as xenophobia to be fair.

Also port cities were always quite diverse. Would you have been giving out about my 18th and 19th century Dublin French ancestors too for not being sufficiently Dublin enough for you?

Port City ???
Two Grain Boats a week (if that), and we're a port City !
A couple of centuries ago maybe.....but it's hardly Rotterdam .

Twoman Fullbackline

Sad to hear you didn't enjoy your day trip to Colbert Station and Arthur's Quay Shopping Centre.

The Specialist

bobbyss wrote: »

I posted this in the Limerick forum precisely because I wanted to know from Limerick people themselves if any of it resonates. No upset intended. Are my impressions correct? The station? That hotel? Fine but decrepit buildings?
Let's be honest here.

Parnell Street is great, the station is great, the hotel is beautiful inside and out, the decrepit buildings add character. Its also custom for visitors to the city to walk up to the filthiest scobe in sight on Parnell St and say you will claim them - it’s like a friendly limerick greeting and you’d even get to visit Dooradoyle after it!

bobbyss

Not true. As mentioned above I had a lovely all day breakfast in the latter. I also went into many shops on William Street I think it was. I bought a pair of shoes, a scarf and a shirt.

6541

You should do reviews of towns around Ireland. Next hup Castlebar.

Yurt2

bobbyss wrote: »

I posted this in the Limerick forum precisely because I wanted to know from Limerick people themselves if any of it resonates. No upset intended. Are my impressions correct? The station? That hotel? Fine but decrepit buildings?
Let's be honest here.

Many of them are bored of other Irish people giving the city a kick because it became a meme in the national press a long time ago.

Limerick folks are aware of the city's shortcomings, but they are not as big or as intractable as made-out. You can go to any city in Ireland, take photos of some crap buildings and make it look like Kabul, including your hometown wherever it is.

Limerick people have spent a lot of time and energy rehabilitating the city's image from other Irish people running it down - and I include Irish people telling tourists not to visit there as it's "dangerous". Small wonder there are empty hotels when other Irish people are content to tell tourists how crap a city it is.

If you don't like the gaffe, fair enough, you don't have to, but don't bore us with trite observations that could be said of any city in Ireland.

Rant over.

Hal3000

Yurt! wrote: »

Many of them are bored of other Irish people giving the city a kick because it became a meme in the national press a long time ago.

Limerick folks are aware of the city's shortcomings, but they are not as big or as intractable as made-out. You can go to any city in Ireland, take photos of some crap buildings and make it look like Kabul, including your hometown wherever it is.

Limerick people have spent a lot of time and energy rehabilitating the city's image from other Irish people running it down - and I include Irish people telling tourists not to visit there as it's "dangerous". Small wonder there are empty hotels when other Irish people are content to tell tourists how crap a city it is.

If you don't like the gaffe, fair enough, you don't have to, but don't bore us with trite observations that could be said of any city in Ireland.

Rant over.

Relax most cities in Ireland are kips. This is what happens when you allow councils who only care about sitting in vans and reading papers run our cities.

Straight Talker

Yurt! wrote: »

Many of them are bored of other Irish people giving the city a kick because it became a meme in the national press a long time ago.

Limerick folks are aware of the city's shortcomings, but they are not as big or as intractable as made-out. You can go to any city in Ireland, take photos of some crap buildings and make it look like Kabul, including your hometown wherever it is.

Limerick people have spent a lot of time and energy rehabilitating the city's image from other Irish people running it down - and I include Irish people telling tourists not to visit there as it's "dangerous". Small wonder there are empty hotels when other Irish people are content to tell tourists how crap a city it is.

If you don't like the gaffe, fair enough, you don't have to, but don't bore us with trite observations that could be said of any city in Ireland.

Rant over.

Apart from the bit about the foreigners, which was a silly remark.I think the ops post, was not vitriolic in the slightest.And Limerick is as a city, nowhere near as vibrant as Cork and Galway.I like Limerick as a city, but i do find the natives overreaction to the slightest bit of criticism to be hilarious.I think to improve a place, that you do need to be open to criticism if it's valid.