
The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland

Limerick (now)
Parish church
Small rectangular church with antae at E and W end. (Internal measurements 14.6 m x
5.5 m). Roofless, but with walls fairly well preserved. The W part of the church,
incorporating the N window and the fine W doorway is Romanesque, built of roughly
coursed large stones, mostly sandstone. The E end was probably rebuilt in the 15thc.
of thinner courses of grey limestone with late Gothic windows in the E and S walls.
Parish church
The former Augustinian friary is now a Church of Ireland parish church. The font is the only possibly Romanesque feature.
Round tower
Round tower (20 m high) with round-headed doorway on E side. A plain round-headed window is set high up on the S side of the tower, a gabled window half-way up on the W side, and a flat-topped window high up on the N side. The tower is built of grey limestone (?). To the S of the tower is a small rectangular church, ruined, with some late Gothic details.
Cistercian House, former
The church has a square presbytery, with three lancets in the E wall. The transepts are almost completely destroyed, but originally had three square chapels opening off each transept arm. Only part of the S chapel of the N transept survives, showing the remains of groin or rib vaults. The aisled nave had four plain arches on each side at the E end, and a blank wall separated nave and aisles at the W end. Only part of the outer wall of the S aisle remains, and nothing of the N aisle. The W crossing piers were enlarged as a result of a change of design. The abbey was later reduced in size by blocking the transept arches and inserting a new W wall enclosing the two E bays of the nave. A barrel vault was built over the S transept in the later middle ages.
Early Monastic Church
Long rectangular church, with low, ivy-covered walls, and antae at the W end. The stump of a round tower remains to the W of the church. The W wall and antae are built from squared sandstone, similar to the remains of the round tower. There are two large triangular corbels above the N door.