Event News
Limerick’s Nicholas Street comes alive with intriguing stories as ‘The Storytelling Street’ on Culture Night
Limerick’s oldest street Nicholas Street will have its tales told and performed for ‘The Storytelling Street’ on Culture Night
Limerick’s oldest street Nicholas Street has long been associated with intrigue, fascinating characters and buildings with a rich history and folklore. Now these engaging tales will be told and performed for ‘The Storytelling Street’ taking place on Culture Night, Friday, 20th September from 4-7pm.
Uncover a land of vice, greed, devious deeds, saintly folk, and villains as stories galore are revealed of the feisty and ferocious characters that lived along the street long ago. Hear local people telling local Limerick stories and old stories brought to life with re-enactments and mini plays.
Characters and shadowy figures will pop up at key buildings like King John’s Castle, the Widows Alms’ Houses, Treaty City Brewery or ‘The Cauldron,’ previously a grocer/public house. At each building, characters will recount their hair-raising stories and yarns of antics along the street as people follow the Bean an Tí along this fascinating trail from King John’s Castle to the Fireplace site.
Commenting on ‘The Storytelling Street’ John Moran, Mayor of Limerick said: “We sometimes forget that Nicholas Street was once the main street of the walled city of Limerick. Its revival is a focus for me for my five-year mayoral term. It has an especially rich background of heritage and folklore with each building having its own set of engrossing tales built over the past 1,000 years.
“Combine this with the local wit and flair for telling a good yarn; and I think this is going to be an unmissable Culture Night event that sets the scene for new beginnings on King’s Island. Come along and experience ‘The Storytelling Street’ to get a whole new perspective on this vibrant, historic part of Limerick. ”
Jill Cousins, Chair of Discover Limerick DAC and Project Coordinator wants everyone young and old to come out on Culture Night. She says: “Prepare to be entertained, shocked, and amused in turn by the yarns of the antics and strange happenings of Nicholas Street long ago as the historic buildings of the street reveal past secrets from across the centuries to the present day.”
The stories of Nicholas Street and King’s Island reveal a long-forgotten world of vice, greed, malicious actions as well as gritty stories of redemption. Of fish poached, of banshees’ predictions heeded, of baths misused and nuns remembered. Stand-out stories will be recounted like the one from Michael Hogan, the Bard of Thomond about
‘Drunken Thady and the Bishop’s Lady” a tale of the vengeful wife of the Bishop of Limerick and the night she met the drunk known as ‘Thady’. In an evil fit of rage, she tossed him over the Thomond Bridge hoping to send him straight to hell. Miraculously, he emerged unscathed and reassessed his life of vice, immediately repenting all his sins. His life was spared and this latter day ‘Slim Shady’ – ‘Thady’ was no longer Drunken Thady.
Characters like the Abbeycourt Baker who warned of the collapse of Hatters Castle on Nicholas Street or the IRA man who made sure that the diaspora got the pensions that he believed were rightfully theirs. Historical records show that Number 25 was once the home of Arthur Roche, thrice mayor of Limerick, who operated his own brewery at the rear of the building that today houses Treaty City Brewery.
Despite great success in the brewing business, he became known for abusing his position with the municipal reforms he undertook and in today’s terms, he was effectively ‘cancelled’. Feel a chill in your spine as you learn about the shadowy figure of Percy the Ghost whose murky presence is still felt in the Treaty City Brewery building in the present day,
‘The Storytelling Street’ kicks off at King John’s Castle with the meeting point outside Katie Daly’s Bar at 4pm on Friday, 20th September with the event running hourly till 7pm. As with all Culture Night events, this event is completely free, very family friendly and suitable for all ages. The event doesn’t need to be booked in advance.
Simply find the Bean an Tí in front of Katie Daly’s pub at 4pm, 5pm or 6pm for the start of the guided story trail or catch it at different buildings between 4pm and 7pm as it winds its way along Nicholas Street and finishes up at the Fireplace site.
The Storytelling Street is the result of a cooperation and collaboration between Limerick City and County Council, Failte Ireland, The Hunt Museum, Discover Limerick DAC, Paul Partnership, Live95FM, Limerick.ie and the Limerick Island City Partnership For more information on this event, please visit www.kingsislandwalledtown.ie/storytelling. The Storytelling Street Project has been supported by the European Social Intervention Fund.