LIM ERICK, an inland co. of the province of Munster, in Ireland, separated by the Shannon on the n. from Clare, and bounded on the c. by Tipperary, on the s. by Cork, and on the w. by Kerry. Its extreme length is 35 m., its breadth 54 m. ; area, 1064 sq.m., or 680,842 acres. Pop. '71, inclusive of the city of Limerick, 191,936; of whom 147,389 were Roman Catholics. The county returns two members to parliament. The surface of Limerick is an undulating plain, which forms part of the central carbonifer ous limestone plain of Ireland. A mountainous district . on the NV. belongs to the great coal-tract of Munster, but the coal is of an inferior quality, and is chiefly used for the burning of lime. Within a short distance of the city of Limerick is a quarry which produces a reddish-brown marble of fine quality, as well as a black marble of inferior value. More than one of the districts contains iron, copper, and lead ores; but at pres ent no mining operations are carried on. The soil in general is very fertile, especially the district called the Golden Vale, which comprises upwards of 150,000 acres; as also a portion of the left bank of the Shannon below Limerick. Of the entire acreage of the county, 526,876 acres are arable, and 121,101 unsuited to cultivation. In general the soil is equally fitted for tillage and for pasture. In 1876 172,941 acres were under crops of various kinds, only 8,58 being reported fallow. In the same year the number of cat tle was 200,308; of sheep, 70,000: and of pigs, 66,180. The national schools in 1875 were attended by 37,444 pupils, of whom 36,682 were Roman Catholics.
The principal towns of Limerick are the city of that name, Newcastle, and Rath keale. Of the secondary rivers, the Deel and the Maigue are the most important. The great highway of water-communication, however, is the Shannon itself, the navigation of which has been much improved, and in which the harbor of Foynes promises to form the nucleus of an extended foreign trade. Limerick communicates by railway with Dublin, Waterford, Cork, and Ennis. The population is chiefly occupied in agricul ture, hardly any manufactures existing outside the city. Limerick anciently formed part of the territory of Thomond, the principality of the O'Briens. After the English invasion, it fell, through many vicissitudes, in great part to the Desmond Fitzgeralds- the confiscated estates of the last earl in Limerick contained no fewer than 96,165 acres. On the forfeitures after 1641 and 1690, it was parceled out to new proprietors. Lim erick is more than usually rich in antiquities, both ecclesiastical and civil, of the Celtic as well as of the ..knglo-Norman period. There were at one time nearly 40 religious foundations of the O'Briens alone, and the ruins of about 100 castles are still in exist ence. The ecclesiastical remains of Adare are exceedingly interesting, two of the ancient churches having been restored, one as the Protestant, the other as the Catholic parish church. Two other monastic ruins, in very good preservation, form a group of ecclesiastical remains hardly surpassed, in number and picturesqueness, even in the most favored districts of England.