Limericks about Limerick

Today we are in Limerick, from which the poetry was born. And though I have done extensive Googling, I cannot find out why poets chose to name this type of poetry after the town in Ireland. Still, most everyone loves a good limerick, even if they don't know what it is. Limericks originated with Mother Goose rhymes in the late 1700s. They are five line poems with a rhyme scheme of aabba (which means that lines one, two, and five all rhyme and lines three and four rhyme). Lines one, two, and five should contain seven to ten syllables and lines three and four should contain five to seven syllables. And I'm explaining all of this because... I wrote a series of limericks about our trip to Limerick instead of a boring blog post. So here it goes:

There was a group that left Cork this morning

And traveled to Limerick without warning

We had a long bus ride

But it was no skin off our hide

Because we made it in time for lunching

Limerick as seen from the tops of King John's castle.

There was a cathedral called St. Mary's

It was as beautiful as it was airy

Though we walked in the rain

It was without any pain

We arrived without being scary

St. Mary's cathedral

St. Mary's was built in 1168

By grandsons of King Boru of late

Because it was old

Many stories were told

In the walls and the halls and the grate

The altar of St. Mary's 

Many people were buried in the church

But this did not cause our stomachs to lurch

We wandered around

Before sitting down

On pews that were made of birch

Tomb inside St. Mary's.

There was a castle for John the king

Though John never thought to bring

Himself for a visit

So actually it isn't

English but a Norman thing

King John's castle

The castle of King John

Meant the Gaelics couldn't carry on

King Henry came to stay

And Queen Lizzie took Catholicism away

And so the age of the English began to dawn

Cali and Kathleen trying on clothes as part of the interactive exhibit at King John's.

The castle had a view

I wish you could see too

The River of Shannon

Looked just like heaven

I guess this picture will have to do

View of the Shannon River which runs through Limerick.

The castle of King John was fun

We stayed until the day was done

We played around

And made lots of sound

And explored towers, more than one!

Cali and Jordan on top of the tower at King John's.

Tomorrow we wake up early to head to the Cliffs of Moher, but tonight we are celebrating Cali's twentieth birthday with good food and yummy toffee bread pudding... A great night in honor of a great girl.

Group picture at King John's. (Photo creds: Sam McCurry)