This bridge is on the site of the oldest bridge across the Shannon in Limerick though it may always have been possible, at low tide, to walk across at the Curragower Falls just downriver. The original bridge was built in 1185 and had 14 arches. The present one was completed in 1840.
From the given coordinates there are great views of Limerick and its environs. Among the historical sites are King John’s castle, the Treaty Stone (with it’s Earthcache) and St Mary’s Cathedral.
King John’s castle was reopened as a visitor centre in 2013 after 2 years restoration work. The castle was built in the early thirteenth century on the site of an earlier Viking settlement. It is best remembered for a series of 5 sieges in the seventeenth century. The Treaty of Limerick was signed on the Treaty Stone on the 3rd of October 1691. It was between William III (known as William of Orange) of England and his Father in Law King James II. The Williamites had been repelled in the 1691 siege of King John’s Castle but had prevailed a year later. It is often stated that “the ink was not dry” on the treaty when it was broken by the Williamite side. The defeated Jacobites were supposed to be allowed to keep their estates but, to a great extent, this did not happen. The Penal Laws a few years later resulted in persecution of Catholics.
St Mary’s Cathedral is the oldest building in Limerick that is in daily use. See the traditional cache; Limerick City of Churches Series St. Mary's RC for more information.
A walk from here known as the 3 bridges (Thomond, Sarsfield and Shannon) gives fine views of the city and has a great variety of caches. There are traditional, earthcaches, puzzles (including an AR), Multis and a Reverse Wherigo.
From 12/10/2020 there is now a set of 5 Lab caches on the 2 bridges section of the walk
TO LOG THIS CACHE post a photo of yourself or your gps on the bridge. This should be done in your log; no need to message me as I will see the photo in the log.
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.