
The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland

Limerick (pre-1974 traditional (Republic of Ireland))
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.
Museum
Two carved heads from different sites are now housed in Limerick City Museum.
One carved head was found incorporated into the stonework of the old Protestant church at Feakle (Clare), built in 1824. It was found during the demolition of the church in c.1954.
The second carved head was found on the site of St Peter's Cell, Limerick.
Cathedral church
The four-bay aisled nave, crossing, and parts of the transept and chancel survive from the original 12thc. building. These are surrounded by later medieval work in the chancel, transepts and chapels flanking the nave, with post-medieval additions to the N and S of the chancel. The nave has square piers with pointed arches, surmounted by a round-headed clerestory with a wall passage; there are five clerestory windows in N and S walls, set over the piers, and the centre of the arches in the three E bays. There is a tower over the W bay, with a similar window and wall passage; the W wall has three narrow pointed lancets, the centre lancet taller than the side lancets, with a wall passage at the base. The W tower arch has been inserted inside the original piers of the W bay. Sculpture is found on the W doorway (Drastically restored in 1895, when only the label and innermost order remained), on the capitals of the nave arcades and on corbels in the aisles.
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.