Britain 09 - Day 5

Introduction

From Tulla we headed to Limerick for a quick look at the River Shannon, castle and bridges. From there we decided to look at the Bronze Age history of the area at Lough Gur, and the Grange Stone Circle, before heading on to Killarney.

Limerick

Limerick is built around the River Shannon, with several old bridges and St John's Castle. We parked near the castle and walked over the bridge to view the memorial to the Signing of the Treaty of Limerick in 1691.

St John's Castle	Thomond Bridge	The bridge and Toll House in background
Beside the river	The 1691 Memorial	The date plaque
The story of the siege	A reference to the Wild Geese	The Toll House

The Bronze Age at Lough Gur

Around Lough Gur are several well-preserved Bronze-Age sites. The first we came across was a wedge tomb, dated to about 2,500 BC. Further on is the main site at Lough Gur, with Heritage Centre etc. Unfortunately for us, the Visitor Centre is only open for a few weeks in the height of summer, by mid-September it was closed. We did manage to see the centre, built in the style of the Bronze Age houses. Also built on the site is a more modern lime kiln built in the 16th century.

The wedge tomb	The history of the wedge tomb	Construction of the tomb
Lough Gur from the Heritage Centre	The lime kiln	Description of the kiln
The Heritage Centre	The Centre, built in the style of Bronze-Age houses	The lough

Grange Stone Circle

A few kilometres away from Lough Gur is the Grange Stone Circle. This is dated to the middle Bronze Age, about 2,000 years BC. The circle sits in a corner of a farm field, unprotected from cattle. Despite this, it is exceptionally well preserved. There are 113 stones in the main circle which is 46 m in diameter.

The story of the Circle

The larger stones

Panorama of the Great Grange Stone Circle

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Last updated: 16/06/2017