THE HEADLESS PHOTOBLOG

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Public Park

PARK SHELTERS

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VIEW THE LIMERICK APRIL 2022 PHOTO DIARY

PEOPLE’S PARK LIMERICK

As you can see from my photographs it was really wet when I visited and the park was, as a result, almost deserted.

The park was formally opened in 1877, in memory of Richard Russell, a prominent local businessman.

Items of interest in the People’s Park include the refurbished drinking fountain, the Limerick City Gallery of Art, children’s playground (toddlers – 10 years old), a band stand and two park shelters.

The park has a large selection of mature, deciduous and evergreen trees such as, Ash, Beech, Birch, Elm, False Acacia, Flowering Cherry, Flowering Crab, Hawthorn, Holly, Hornbeam, Horse Chestnut, Lime, Maple, Mountain Ash, Oak, Ornamental Pear, Plane, Poplar, Walnut, Whitebeam and Willow plus, of course, a wonderful display of flowers during the summer months.

THE RICHARD RUSSELL MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN

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PEOPLE’S PARK LIMERICK

Limerick’s much loved Richard Russell Fountain is a favourite of mine even though it has a twin in Belfast, one is red and the other is yellow.

The fountain, the only one of its kind in the State, has been returned to the Peoples’ Park after spending 7 months being carefully restored by Eura Conservation in Telford. 

Limerick City Council and Limerick Civic Trust decided to restore the fountain which dates from the 1870s after a careful inspection found that it was in a very poor state of repair and was, in fact, in danger of falling.

The fountain was dismantled without the use of many tools as the reinforcements and supporting materials were badly damaged. It was therefore only a matter of time before the fountain collapsed due to the weight of the dome. The conservation team returned to Telford within days of beginning the dismantling process and transported the historic Richard Russell fountain across the Irish Sea.

Simon Ward, Eura Restoration Project Manager described the condition as “quite unlike anything that I have seen before”. “This did make the project challenging to say the very least,” said Simon. “I would now rate the restoration as a fascinating and a personal favourite”.

The work that followed began with a blasting and cleaning process to ascertain if there were any further problems lurking under the paint work. What Eura did find was an impressive pallet of hues after carrying out a colour analysis test. To remain true to the original form the fountain was returned back to a glorious mixture of red and white. Before painting began however immense work was carried out to repair and replace the damaged or lost parts of the fountain.

To save on expenditure Eura used moulds that were already available as they had recently restored the Jaffe fountain in Belfast. The Jaffe is an exact replica of the Richard Russell fountain as both were cast in the Sun Foundry, Glasgow. It is now difficult to spot the new sections from the old because the pieces were cast in the traditional way by Eura’s blacksmith.

A substantial part of the work involved reinforcing and weatherproofing the fountain to ensure that it will be another 150 years if not longer before the fountain will need to be restored again. 

LIMERICK PHOTO DIARY APRIL 2022

PEOPLE’S PARK IN LIMERICK

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A Favourite Of Mine

Almost every time I have visited Limerick the visit was ruined by constant rain. This year I took a huge gamble and visited early in March and in general was excellent but the first evening was not at all promising as it rained for about five hours.

The park boasts a number of interesting items including a memorial upon a giant pillar to Thomas Spring Rice, MP for the city of Limerick from 1820–1832, a 19th-century bandstand, an ornate drinking fountain (one of only two on the island of Ireland) and two gazebos.

Modern facilities include a playground opened in 2001 and memorial garden to The Little Angels of Limerick opened in 2002.

The Park was initially developed as part of the Pery Square development in the Newtown Pery area of central Limerick. This development commenced in 1835 and the associated park was a key-holders only park. The intended plan was to surround the park with housing for the more affluent members of society.

Pery Square was intended to be a complete Georgian square with the Georgian terraces enclosing a central park, similar in layout to Merrion Square or Mountjoy Square in Dublin, however more modest in scale. Ireland’s Georgian economy began to decline with the onset of the Great Irish Famine and only one terrace of the square was ever completed funds for the project ran out before this could be completed.

The park was officially opened in 1877, it was given to the People of Limerick in honour of Richard Russell, a prominent local businessman. It was the then Earl of Limerick in the 1870s who granted a 500-year lease of Pery Square and the surrounding grounds to the corporation under certain conditions. These included an agreement that no political or religious meetings were allowed to be held in the park and bands were not to play there on a Sunday.

The plots of land that were earmarked for the development of the Georgian Square were eventually incorporated into the park and extended it further north to what is now Mallow Street, eastwards towards Boherbuoy Road and southwards towards St. Joseph Street.

LIMERICK APRIL 2022