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People's Park

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People's Park
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Rice Memorial
Rice Memorial · Photo: GilPe · CC BY-SA 4.0
Pery Square is a Georgian Terrace located in the Newtown Pery area of Limerick city, Ireland. The terrace was constructed as a speculative development by the Pery Square Tontine Company between 1835 and 1838. The square was named in honour of the politician Edmund Sexton Perry. The architect James Pain supervised the construction of the terrace and may well have been responsible for the design. The contractor was Pierse Creagh, Ennis. By 1838, the houses forming this terrace were let to tenants. The terrace is one of the finest examples of late Georgian architecture in Limerick and Ireland. The tontine development was the only area of square that was finished. The remaining plots (around the planned square) which were earmarked for development in Davis Ducart's plan for Newtown Pery were never realised and were left undeveloped. Opposite Pery Square is the People's Park which adds to the surrounds of the area. The development was the last of the great Georgian Era developments in Limerick as the years that followed heralded an end to the Georgian prosperity and a beginning to a crippling economic decline in Ireland caused by the Great Famine. Limerick was not to see development of that scale again as was seen in Newtown Pery until the Celtic Tiger years. Today, a Boutique Hotel is trading at No 1 Pery Square. No 2 Pery Square has been extensively redeveloped by Limerick Civic Trust and is now in use as a Georgian Museum. The rest of the houses are being used to various degrees. Limerick City Gallery of Art is also located at Pery Square opposite the tontine as is Limerick's War Menorial. St. Michael's Church of Ireland, a gothic structure stands at the southern end of Pery Square terminating the vista of the street to the south. Saint Michael's Church adds immeasurably to the importance of Pery Square as the unrivalled Georgian streetscape outside of Georgian Dublin.
Pery Square is a Georgian Terrace located in the Newtown Pery area of Limerick city, Ireland. The terrace was constructed as a speculative development by the Pery Square Tontine Company between 1835 and 1838. The square was named in honour of the politician Edmund Sexton Perry. The architect James Pain supervised the construction of the terrace and may well have been responsible for the design. The contractor was Pierse Creagh, Ennis. By 1838, the houses forming this terrace were let to tenants. The terrace is one of the finest examples of late Georgian architecture in Limerick and Ireland. The tontine development was the only area of square that was finished. The remaining plots (around the planned square) which were earmarked for development in Davis Ducart's plan for Newtown Pery were never realised and were left undeveloped. Opposite Pery Square is the People's Park which adds to the surrounds of the area. The development was the last of the great Georgian Era developments in Limerick as the years that followed heralded an end to the Georgian prosperity and a beginning to a crippling economic decline in Ireland caused by the Great Famine. Limerick was not to see development of that scale again as was seen in Newtown Pery until the Celtic Tiger years. Today, a Boutique Hotel is trading at No 1 Pery Square. No 2 Pery Square has been extensively redeveloped by Limerick Civic Trust and is now in use as a Georgian Museum. The rest of the houses are being used to various degrees. Limerick City Gallery of Art is also located at Pery Square opposite the tontine as is Limerick's War Menorial. St. Michael's Church of Ireland, a gothic structure stands at the southern end of Pery Square terminating the vista of the street to the south. Saint Michael's Church adds immeasurably to the importance of Pery Square as the unrivalled Georgian streetscape outside of Georgian Dublin. · Photo: William Murphy from Dublin, Ireland · CC BY-SA 2.0

What is recorded here

The ordinary view hides the useful part of the story. Freestanding limestone Greek Doric column surmounted by Portland stone sculpture of Thomas Spring Rice, erected in 1829, on a raised mound at the centre of the People's Park, formally Pery Square.
Freestanding limestone Greek Doric column surmounted by Portland stone sculpture of Thomas Spring Rice, erected in 1829, on a raised mound at the centre of the People's Park, formally Pery Square. Robed sculpture facing northwest towards the Tontine Building on Pery Square, standing on a plain limestone ashlar cylindrical base above a fluted limestone ashlar Greek Doric column. The column sits on an octagonal limestone ashlar base with projecting cornice and mutules. On the base there are three limestone steps in a circular format. Plaque on octagonal base reads: 'Thomas Spring Rice M.P. for the City of Limerick 1820-1832'.
Freestanding limestone Greek Doric column surmounted by Portland stone sculpture of Thomas Spring Rice, erected in 1829, on a raised mound at the centre of the People's Park, formally Pery Square.
Standing in the middle of this quiet leafy square, the monument gives a sense of the aspiration of grandeur of the newly fashionable part of Limerick as well as serving as a memorial to the influential Thomas Spring Rice. Spring Rice (1791-1866) was still alive, in his late thirties, an MP for the city, with a government post, and a landowner in County Limerick. He was extremely popular in the city. He was later 1st Baron Monteagle of Brandon, County Kerry. His initial election as MP in 1820 had involved the triumph of the Independent party, which represented the merchant interest and it broke a well established, conservative oligarchy that had dominated Limerick politics for many years. His supporters were involved in the building of Newtown Pery and it was fitting that his monument should have a prominent place in the new town. The statue was erected in 1829 by the Barrington family, who invested heavily in this part of the city and who anticipated further expansion, which was never realised. The renowned sculptor Thomas Kirk carved the statue. The statue was placed on top of the monument designed by Henry Aaron Baker in 1826.

The story behind this place

Freestanding limestone Greek Doric column surmounted by Portland stone sculpture of Thomas Spring Rice, erected in 1829, on a raised mound at the centre of the People's Park, formally Pery Square.

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Photo: GilPe · CC BY-SA 4.0