Religion plays an important aspect in shaping Limerick’s architectural, social and cultural landscapes. No other city in Ireland has as many churches and places of worship along its main street and surrounding areas.
The Limerick City of Churches Series aims to showcase the city’s different beautiful and historic churches, representing different religions; some are still actively used as a place for worship while others are not.
Limerick City is best experienced walking, and so this series can also be completed on foot. The suggested series sequence takes about 6km flat loop walk, but you can decide to start at any point in the series, it is not important to do it in sequence. If driving, there are several city pay parking available.
St. Munchin’s Church - Church of Ireland
St. Munchin’s Church (Church of Ireland) built in 1827. Designed by The George and James Pain who gave the building a Gothic style. The four pinnacles at the top of the tower provide this church a distinguished aspect. The church is situated in King’s Island, between the Bishop’s Palace and the Villier’s Alms Houses. It was built in 1827 and was renovated in 1980 by the Limerick Civic Trust. It was a used for a period by the Island Theatre Company and is now used as a store for Limerick Civic Trust.
St. Munchin’s Church - Roman Catholic
St. Munchin’s Church was built in 1922 to replace older church of the same name which had been on the site since the easing of the Penal Laws in the mid 1th century. St. Munchin is the patron saint of Limerick. The name comes from “little monk” as the Saint’s original name has been lost with time.
History
The origins of St Munchin's parish can be traced back to the Treaty of Limerick of 1691. Originally called St Lelia's parish, the name was changed to St Munchin's in 1812. There are churches in the parish to both of these saints.
St Munchin's parish is one of the five original parishes in Limerick City along with St John's, St Michael's, St Mary's and St Patrick's. However with the growth of Limerick City in the last 40 years, the area of St Munchin's has been reduced greatly due to the creation of new parishes. In 1964 the parish of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary was created, from the south eastern part of St Munchin's parish.
In 1970 the parish of Christ the King in Caherdavin to the west was created and six years later to the north of the old St Munchin's parish, the parish of Corpus Christi in Moyross was created. The population of the parish is around 10,000.
One of the city's most historic features is situated across the road from St Munchin's church. The Treaty Stone was where the Treaty of Limerick was signed to guarantee civil and religious liberty for the people of Ireland in 1691.
Source: http://www.limerickdioceseheritage.org
To solve this mini multi:
1. Go to N 52° 40.247 W 008°37.522 (Published coordinates physical cache is not here) There is a plaque about the church and in it is a big number inside a yellow circle. Add those 2 digits. Call this A.
2. Go to N 52° 40.184 W 008°37.708 How many tombs do you see on the left when you are facing the church. Call this B.
The final coordinates: N 52° 40.0A(A*3) W 008° 37.(B+A)0A
The cache is a bison container that can only hold a logbook. Please BYOP.
Congratulations to Batinahat and Stellapickle for being FTF!