Ireland Guide
Limerick and Clare
The Hunt Museum
Address: Rutland Street, Limerick
Telephone: 061/312833
Website: www.huntmuseum.com
Opening time: Mon– Sat 10am–5pm, Sun 2–5pm
Price: €7.50; Heritage Island
The beautiful and fascinating displays in the Hunt Museum, dating from the Stone Age to modern times, are the best place to start a tour of the city. Over the course of the twentieth century, John and Gertrude Hunt gathered together this diverse collection of art and antiquities, especially known for its religious works, and bequeathed it to the people of Ireland. In the 1990s, a fitting venue was found for the bequest in the old Custom House on Rutland Street, built in the 1760s in elegant Palladian style and best appreciated from the river side. Besides the permanent collection, the museum mounts a major summer show and other temporary exhibitions throughout the year. There are guided tours every day (phone for details) and a fine café.
Particular pieces to look out for include the beautiful, early ninth-century Antrim Cross, one of the finest examples of early Christian metalwork from Ireland. Made of bronze decorated with enamel in geometric and animal designs, it was discovered by chance in the River Bann in the nineteenth century. Keep an eye out also for the Beverley Crozier, a piece of walrus ivory intricately carved with miracles of healing, dating from the eleventh century; a vivacious, rearing bronze horse by Leonardo da Vinci; and a ten-drachma coin, minted in Syracuse in the fourth or fifth century BC, which is reputed to be one of the thirty pieces of silver received by Judas for betraying Christ.