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In the photo of Mary St. the laneway between the Dutch Gabled houses is Ryans Lane,it appears on the 1840 and 1870 Ordnance Survey maps of Limerick,the two closest Billy’s are described in the Civil Survey 1654,they were refaced in brick in the early 18th cent.
The laneway is not mentioned in the mid 17th cent survey, the next two gabled houses were originally one property according to the civil survey measured 44ft fronting the street by 40ft,I would assume the redevelopment/refacing of these buildings accounts for the laneway where one would assume to find a dividing wall.
The next two storeyed flat gabled building, that has washing hanging outside is the building which fronts Fanning’s Castle,(not really a castle more a castellated town house dating to the 15th/16th cent, these oppulent merchant class buildings were predominant on Mary St. -then known as High St.)
The furthest three two storeyed buildings which corner onto Creagh Lane replaced three timber framed cagework houses also in the early 18th cent.The Civil Survey 1654-56 was gathered subsequent to Cromwell’s campaign in Ireland, to put it briefly all the lands and properties that were confiscated (from mainly Catholic owners) were surveyed, in the case of Limerick City the type of building -stone house/castle/cagework is given, its dimensions with any yard or waste plot are described, the rent payable and in most cases the new protestant tenant is also detailed.The Civil Survey of Limerick City and County,edited by Simmington is available in the reference section of the city library.
Using 1840-1900 Ordnance Survey maps of Limerick, the original late medieval property boundaries were plotted on a modern map utilising known landmarks such as extant buildings/laneways etc. this was done mainly by Claire Lane in the late 80’s.
The 300 anniversary 1691 map was draughted by a local historian Richard Ahern, whilst working as an archaeological researcher for the Limerick Civic Trust I decided to go one further and use the information from the Civil Survey together with all the cartographic information available in the Limerick Museum to draught a new map which is far more accurate(not just a pretty picture).
The map and accompanying booklet on the extant medieval fabric of Limerick is due to be published in September.In reference to the dutch billy thread, I fear that the only ones to be found in Limerick are the two gables at the rear of St John’s Square however the boundary plots and walls of many other billy’s remain.The Civil Survey of 1654-56 which gives a description of every property within the walled city describes only one brick building, owned by a Captain George Ingoldsby measuring 31 by 19 ft.
I have plotted the civil survey against 19th cent ordnance survey maps, the brick house was located near Island Gate which is now a car park on Old Dominick St. opposite the Villiers Alms Houses, there are no extant remains of the building
