Limerick (Irish: Luimneach) is a city in Ireland. It is located in the Mid-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. Limerick City and County Council is the local authority for the city. The city lies on the River Shannon, with the historic core of the city located on King's Island, which is bounded by the Shannon and the Abbey River. Limerick is also located at the head of the Shannon Estuary where the river widens before it flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Limerick is the third most populous city in the state, and the fourth most populous city on the island of Ireland. In 2012, it was announced that Limerick would be Ireland's first National City of Culture in 2014, with a number of events due to take place in the city over the year.
Climate[]
Limerick's climate is classified as temperate oceanic (Köppen Cfb). Met Éireann maintains a climatological weather station at Shannon Airport, 20 kilometers west of the city in County Clare. Shannon Airport records an average of 977 millimeters of precipitation annually, most of which is rain. Limerick has a mild climate, with the average daily maximum in July of 20 °C (68 °F) and the average daily minimum in January of 3 °C (37 °F). The highest temperature recorded was 31.6 °C (88.9 °F) in 1995, and the lowest −11.4 °C (11.5 °F) in 2010. Limerick is the cloudiest city in the state, averaging only 1,295 sunshine hours annually, 3.5 hours of sunshine every day. There are on average 59 days of no recordable sunshine, 6 days of thunder, 19 days of hail and 8 days of snow per year. Shannon Airport is located by the ocean at an elevation of 14 meters, so snow is less common at the station than in the city itself.
