Wkstropp — Aucieiit Churches in Co. Limericli. 355 



SUEYEY or THE CHURCHES. 



The DEANERr of Limeeick. 



The name is, of course, taken from the Cathedral City. It appears 

 in early times as " Luimneach," for the estuary of the Shannon, and a 

 district, or rather group of tribes — theTuath Luimneach — on its southern 

 bank. Perhaps the least improbable of the suggested derivations is 



grazed bare by horses." Others are from the "cloaks," or the 

 "shields,"^ which were swept away by the tide. The Norse name, 

 Hlimrek,- has been equated with " rich loam." The rural deanery is 

 first named in 1291. 



MUNG RET /\,:^0V^^^5-.AaHeK^ 



/•••■•/u'L.../'' ^ '*''-;NARRy\ diocese 



'•■■■■'KNOCK-''' 'f' 

 ! /GAUL / 



"CRECORAT^ii-^ 



OF 

 EMLY 



1 2. B MILE-S 



FEDAMORE 



XXIIl 



' ' ^1 



4« PairisK KuLrcK +$ile \ 

 • 4' ChuTxK riLiri. S Monastery V. 



The Deanery of Limerick. 



1 Dindsenchas, No. 67 {Revue Celtique, 1894), the *'luimne," or grey green 

 cloaks, or from the " lummans," or shields. 



2 It will be remembered that Rafn, a Norse " Hlimrek " merchant, seems to 

 have been one of the first to tell the world of the voyage of Ari, the Icelander, to 



