WATCH Denis Allen reflects on Limerick You’re A Lady – “Limerick is home, and it always will be”

Denis Allen reflects on Limerick You’re A Lady. Richard Lynch pictured with Denis Allen at The Savoy Limerick. Limerick You’re a Lady – A celebration of the songs of the Limerick-born legendary singer/songwriter Denis Allen takes place February 20, 2025 at the Lime Tree Theatre. Picture: Olena Oleksienko/ilovelimerick

Limerick legend, and renowned singer-songwriter, Denis Allen reflects on the origins of ‘Limerick You’re a Lady’, the iconic ballad which became a Limerick anthem

Speaking at the Savoy Hotel in Limerick ahead of his upcoming concert on Thursday, February 20, at the Lime Tree Theatre, Allen spoke with Richard Lynch of I Love Limerick to share the story behind the song’s creation and its lasting impact.

In 1979, Allen was approached by John Loftus and the late Share a Dream charity founder, Shay Kinsella, who were organising a Limerick Lady Festival.

They asked him to write a song, initially intended for the late Tommy Drennan, a well-known Irish singer. However, when Drennan declined the offer, Allen decided to record the song himself, expecting it to be played at the festival and then forgotten. Instead, it took on a life of its own, resonating deeply with listeners and becoming a timeless tribute to Limerick which is heard at many events throughout the year and across the county.

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“I did a demo of the song and gave it to John and Shay, and they said, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s only one thing.’ I said, ‘What’s that?’ They said, ‘Tommy isn’t looking for a song,'” explains Denis, who continued, “So I said, OK. Well, the festival is going to happen in six weeks time. I’ll do the song and it’ll get a play or two, the festival will be over. Goodbye.  And the song took off. I can’t explain it. And it has a life of its own.”

Speaking about the inspiration for the lyrics from a memory in his childhood, he said, “I’m born and reared in Limerick. And so, when initially I was asked to write a song for Limerick, and I didn’t really want to do a kind of a geographical trip around the town type thing, I thought the alliteration, ‘Limerick, you’re a lady’.

“And then it’s like three in the morning, I have to come up after my gig.  And I got that line, I sat down, I just wrote the song. And there’s a little bit in the second verse. It really is from my childhood, because in the second verse, ‘a gift that time has made, a shrine where children pray’.

“Well, I went to St. John’s Infant School, beside the cathedral. And I remember, it probably only happened once, but in my mind, I remember the May procession. And the bronze out onto the grass there, and a beautiful day, and nuns made an orange drink out of this powder and stuff. It was like a shrine where children pray, and the bells, of course, the bells, and the church when I lived in town. That was that, it was really a picture from my childhood really.”

Limerick You’re a Lady is a song which is loved by thousands, and Denis noted one personal highlight for him is hearing a chorus of thousands singing the lyrics at one of the county’s greatest sporting achievements; following a Croke Park victory.

He said, “I mean, the great thrill is to be in Croke Park. You’re anonymous, let’s face it, you’re in the All Ireland, that’s about the lads, it’s all about the hurling. And then at the end, Limerick beat Kilkenny, and you’re sitting there, and they put on the song, and people join in. To hear so many people singing your song, it’s quite amazing.”

When asked about his favourite thing about Limerick, Denis put it simply saying “Limerick is home” above all else, he said, “I’d have never lived any place else, that’s all I can say to you. I would never move out of Limerick, never have done. No matter where I was gigging, Limerick was home, and that’s where I was born and raised.”

Join the people of Limerick in celebrating one of our favourite sons, the legendary Denis Allen, creator of our much-loved anthem Limerick You’re a Lady in the Lime Tree Theatre on Thursday 20th February 2025.

Denis’s very special guests for this celebratory concert will be some of Limerick’s talented singers and performers along with his friends who worked with Denis on his musical endeavours such as Louise Morrissey, Denis Carey, Denis Ryan (of Ryan’s Fancy), Emma Langford and Shaun O’Dowd with M.C. Lorcan Murray of Lyric FM.