‘Luimneach’ A Land of Leaping Horses

Cheltenham 2023 marked 75 years since Cottage Rake left Colbert Station one fateful morning with trainer Vincent O’Brien. Going on to win three consecutive Gold Cups they firmly established Limerick as a proving ground for world class horses. 

To celebrate Limerick’s long standing equestrian heritage, Re:Story takes a closer look at the meaning of Luimneach in Irish, a place name recorded in old legends and folklore.

The Dinnseanchas, a collection of ancient poetry, records Luimneach as an Isle of the Shannon where warriors from Munster and Connaught would battle. “...approach, above the slopes of oak-wood, the portion of Luimnech, home of the hero-folk.” In the heat of a battle, warriors in the poem cast their cloaks on the shore which are carried away with the Shannon’s tide, when they aren’t looking.

The precise meaning of "Luimneach" has since remained a mystery, like so many old Irish placenames losing their meaning through the mists of time. A prevailing view claimed “Luimneach” was “Lom-an-each”, the “empty/barren place of the horse”. However, a note in Dineley’s Journal from 1681 suggests Limerick means “Léim-an-each”, “The Horse’s Leap”!

Limerick was established on the first fording point of the Shannon River, where you could safely cross on horseback at the limit of the Estuary tides. St. Thomas’ Island in Corbally, a likely candidate for this fording point, was known as the Lax Weir in Viking times. During the Siege of Limerick, this little Island was believed to have been the secret meeting place for Sarsfield’s preliminary Treaty talks with General de Ginkel, who enigmatically addressed his letters from ‘Thomond Isle’. 

The namesake townland of Luimneach in Galway could confirm this meaning of Limerick, as it too marks a fording point on Lough Corrib. One thing for sure is Limerick's rich equine heritage and a people who have long held a fondness for horses.

To explore these images of Limerick, local artists have been commissioned to create a series of paintings. Alfredo, an artist from Castletroy has painted A River Crossing on canvas and Eamon Baggott from Rathkeale, has beautifully illustrated images of Limerick’s most beloved Horses. Original artwork and prints for sale in Re:Story at The Milk Market this Spring.

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