Woke to ice on the windscreen from overnight frost! Said farewell to the family and walked into Limerick, Ireland's 2014 City of Culture.
 
Crossed the Shannon River and looked at the Church of Ireland cathedral of St . Mary The Virgin, dating from 1168. Beautiful stained glass, and several sets of Misericords, carved wooden benches that enabled clergy to stand supported through long services, as if sitting. The church also had a lepers' squint, through which lepers received communion.

Next we went to King John's Castle, built from 1212 and added to in stages. Superb exhibition of the history of the castle and the city until the sieges of the 1600s, and then we walked all around and climbed the battlements for a great view over the city and the Shannon River. Second exhibition of the castle's later history. In the 1920s, when Limerick was short of houses, they built blocks of flats inside the castle perimeter, now demolished. 
 
Round the corner to The Hunt Museum, housed in the old custom house. A private collection of 2000 pieces of art and antiquities, collected by John and Gertrude Hunt and donated to the nation. Reminiscent of Gulbenkian in Lisbon but a smaller collection.
 
Brisk walk back to the house, and drove towards Cork. Camped in a small camp site just past Cork, pouring rain all night!