Limerick, city (1991 pop. 56,083), seat of Co. Limerick, SW Republic of Ireland, at the head of the Shannon estuary. The city has a port with two docks. The primary imports are grain, timber, and coal; exports include produce and fish. Limerick's industries include salmon fishing, food processing, flour milling, computer manufacture, and lace making. It was occupied by the Norsemen in the 9th cent., became the capital of Munster under Brian Boru (c.1000), was taken by the English toward the end of the 12th cent., and was James II's last stronghold in Ireland after the Glorious Revolution. The city has three sections—English Town, the oldest, on King's Island; Irish Town to the south; and Newtown Pery, S of Irish Town, founded in 1769. Preserved in Limerick is the Treaty Stone on which was signed (1691) the treaty granting the Irish Catholics certain rights, chiefly the guarantee of political and religious liberty. The repeated violations of this treaty during the reigns of William III and Queen Anne caused Limerick to be called City of the Violated Treaty. Of notable interest are a Protestant cathedral (12th cent.; originally Roman Catholic), a Roman Catholic cathedral, and the castle (begun 1210) of King John. Limerick is the site of a teacher's college and the National Institute for Higher Education, a branch of the National Univ. of Ireland.

limerick, type of humorous verse. It is always short, often nonsensical, and sometimes ribald. Of unknown origin, the limerick is popular rather than literary and has even been used in advertising. The rhyme scheme of most limericks is usually aabba, as in the following example:

There was an old man from Peru,
Who dreamed he was eating his shoe.
  He woke in a fright
  In the middle of the night
And found it was perfectly true.

See L. Reed, The Complete Limerick Book (1925); C. P. Aiken, A Seizure of Limericks (1964); V. B. Holland, An Explosion of Limericks (1967); W. S. Baring-Gould, The Lure of the Limerick (1967).

Limerick (lĬm´ərĬk), county (1991 pop. 161,956), 1,037 sq mi (2,686 sq km), SW Republic of Ireland. Limerick is the county seat. The region is an agricultural plain lying S of the Shannon estuary. The Golden Vale in the eastern part of the county and the Shannon bank are especially fertile. Dairy farming and salmon fishing are the chief occupations. On the Shannon River above Limerick is an important hydroelectric plant. Main manufactures include aluminum castings, automotive parts, concrete pipes, and office equpiment. After the Anglo-Norman invasion and the organization of Limerick as a shire (c.1200), the district was controlled for many centuries by the earls of Desmond.

Limerick City on the Shannon estuary, sw Republic of Ireland; capital of Limerick county, Munster province. Norse invaders sacked the city in the 9th century. At the beginning of the 11th century, Brian Boru made Limerick the capital of Munster. In the 17th century, the armies of Oliver Cromwell and William III besieged the city. Industries: lacemaking, salmon fishing. Pop. (1996) 79,137.

limerick a humorous five-line poem with a rhyme scheme aabba, popularized by the English humorist Edward Lear (1812–88) and closely associated with him. It is said to be named from the chorus ‘will you come up to Limerick?’, sung between improvised verses at a gathering.

lim·er·ick / ˈlim(ə)rik/ • n. a humorous, frequently bawdy, verse of three long and two short lines rhyming aabba, popularized by Edward Lear.

limerick XIX. Said to be derived from a custom of singing ‘Will you come up to Limerick?’ at parties at which verses were extemporized.

limerick •Amharic, barbaric, Garrick, Pindaric, samsaric •fabric • cambric • Aelfric • chivalric •geriatric, paediatric (US pediatric), Patrick, psychiatric, theatric •tantric •epigastric, gastric •alphanumeric, atmospheric, chimeric, cleric, climacteric, congeneric, Derek, derrick, Eric, esoteric, exoteric, ferric, generic, hemispheric, Herrick, Homeric, hysteric, mesmeric, numeric, skerrick, spheric, stratospheric •red-brick • Cedric •calendric, Kendrick •anthropometric, asymmetric, diametric, geometric, isometric, kilometric, metric, obstetric, psychometric, pyrometric, sociometric •electric, hydroelectric, photoelectric •androcentric, centric, concentric, eccentric, egocentric, ethnocentric, Eurocentric, geocentric, phallocentric, theocentric •airbrick • hayrick • Friedrich •Dietrich •empiric, lyric, panegyric, Pyrrhic, satiric, satyric, vampiric •pinprick • citric • oneiric • hydric •nitric •aleatoric, allegoric, anaphoric, camphoric, categoric, choric, Doric, euphoric, historic, metaphoric, meteoric, phantasmagoric, phosphoric, pyrophoric, semaphoric, sophomoric, theophoric, Warwick, Yorick •con trick •auric, boric, folkloric •Kubrick, rubric •Ugric • Cymric • xeric • firebrick •Rurik, sulphuric (US sulfuric), telluric, Zürich •Frederick • Roderick • undertrick •agaric • Alaric • choleric • limerick •turmeric •archbishopric, bishopric •rhetoric • maverick • overtrick •Masaryk