Back in 2007 it was suggested that this grotto at Pier Head on the Marina should be relocated to the new Blackrock park to allow improved vehicular access to the slipways. When I visited in September 2018 and August 2021 it was still at its original location … I wonder what happened.
Note: Pier Head may actually refer to a Pub or a restaurant rather than the actual location of the grotto.
A short distance from the village is Blackrock Castle. There has been a castle on the site since medieval times but the present castle was built in the mid-19th century in mock-baronial style. It now houses an observatory and planetarium.
The Marina, a tree-lined avenue (not strictly a marina) runs along the southern bank of the River Lee from Blackrock Village past Páirc Uí Chaoimh and is a used for a number of recreational activities such as rowing, walking and cycling. The Atlantic Pond, in the shadow of Páirc Uí Chaoimh, is also used by walkers and is populated by wildlife, mainly ducks and swans.
Dundanion Castle, overlooking the Marina but difficult to access, is a ruined 16th-century castle. It is from this spot that William Penn reputedly sailed on his first voyage to America in 1682 before founding the state of Pennsylvania.
This is a 1954 Marian Statue erected by the locals, across the road from Our Lady Queen Of Peace church, and it may be of better quality than most and as you can see from my photographs it is very well maintained.
The spelling of Roxborough has sometimes been shortened to Roxboro, largely due to the modern spelling of the “Roxboro Road” in Limerick City (R511), which runs from the top of William Street all the way out to Roxborough. In more recent years, a number of businesses in the Rathbane and Galvone areas of Limerick City have erroneously begun to use “Roxboro” as their address in the belief that that part of the city was once part of the townland of Roxborough. This has been reinforced by the misuse of Roxborough on directional roadsigns on a section of the N18 from the Limerick Tunnel to the Junction 1 exit. It is clearly evidenced on the Ordnance Survey of Ireland’s 6″ maps (1829–41) that this is not the case.
Roxborough is a townland in County Limerick, Ireland comprising some 24.02 km2. It lies to the south of the townlands of Ballysheedy and Routagh and to the east of the townland of Ballyclough. Its northern boundary, partially bounded by the Ballyclough River, lies some three kilometres to the south of the Limerick City boundary at Southill. The Limerick to Fedamore road (R511) bounds the west side of Roxborough.
Roxborough was historically part of the civil parish of Caheravally and the Barony of Clanwilliam and comprised 526 acres, two roods and five perches. Roxborough is in the Roman Catholic parish of Donoughmore and Knockea, which lies in the Diocese of Limerick. It is also part of the catchment area of South Liberties GAA Club.
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