Truly spectacular sunsets across the Shannon River, Japanese Ramen in Taikichi and the pints of Polly at Crew were the highlights of my St Bridget’s weekend in Limerick, but there were also gorgeous jaunts to Glenstall Abbey, walks in Curragh Chase and fabulous late night music sessions at Joe’s using his coffee table edged with conductor tape, his Arduinos, and his triangle protractor stuck in his mouth. Using these tools, Joe succeeded in accompanying Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World beautifully.

After our days of walk and adventure, in the early evenings we took Poppins for a stroll around St John’s Castle, along the river taking photos of the fabulous sunsets and then somehow we found ourselves having slow pints in Tom Collins, or Pharmacia before wandering up to the Wickham Way food trucks, grabbing burritos, or pizza and washing it down in Crew with a pint (or two) of Polly.

Crew is a lovely craft beer pub in Thomas St, Limerick run by a group of young ones who seem to love dogs as well as beer. They always make me and Poppins Dog most welcome and the atmosphere is truly easy going. They brew their beer here too, so gorgeous silver tanks, which they polish regularly with loving care, stand omnipresent behind the bar. A blackboard tells you about all the guest beers and you can taste any one you want. I love it here.

On Saturday night, we discovered they have a newsletter which each month adopts a favourite visiting dog. This month’s current dog occupant arrived while we were there, quite upsetting our equilibrium! Trixie was a sweet little thing, though not as gorgeous as Poppins. So, now, Joe and I have a long-term objective related to Crew which surely explains, if not justifies our continued presence there! When we popped in again on Sunday, I wanted to dress Poppins up in the lovely silk scarf that I gave Joe for Xmas two years ago, but Joe wouldn’t let me. Said my tactics were too obvious!

A new visit for us this time was Glenstall Abbey (thanks to Kathleen Connelly who was also visiting her son in Limerick and happened to post pics). This is a lovely place to visit. The grounds are glorious, and the abbey is very beautiful. We couldn’t go in as it was closed (it was Sunday so I felt a little confused by this…shouldn’t they be open on Sundays?) so we didn’t see the inside of the church or any of the monks who still live there, but the grounds themselves were well worth visiting. Beautiful parkland, woods, meadows etc.

On Saturday we went to Curragh Chase which is one of our favourite places in and around Limerick. It is lovely woodland, lakes, swamps and parkland, managed by Coilte, and you can barbeque there in the summer. A warning, however, if you do, make sure you ignore the maps and signs dotted around the place. They make absolutely no sense. Every time Joe and I go, we examine them and find ourselves none the wiser and twice as lost.

Finally, eating out in Limerick just gets better and better. Taikichi, a Japanese restaurant on O’Connell St, isn’t just sushi, there is a wide range of choice and it was totally delicious. I had a lovely chicken broth ramen for lunch on Saturday. On Friday night we went to Viko Viko, a Vietnamese and Korean restaurant (which incidentally has a bus as part of its dining experience) which was also really tasty. And there are the delicious food trucks in Wickham Way and, of course, the Milk Market which I didn’t get to this time. I had no time to cook…too busy eating.

So, another fab weekend in Limerick with our evenings ending up in Joe’s home-made musical house. He has taped conductor tape to his coffee table and connected it all up with aduinos and so is able to make music with extraordinary things…like bananas, protractors, and whatever you’re having yourself! I don’t wholly understand it, you have to see it to believe it. If you want to know more, you’ll have go study sound engineering at TUS or possibly I can get you a private viewing!