The Double Life of Catherine Street
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The Secret Foundation of the Republic

Few people know that Bourke's pub on Catherine Street was allegedly the site where plans for the 1916 Easter Rising were  drawn up. During the troubled years of the second decade of the twentieth century, a series of secret meetings took place between local conspirators in its basement, to which the members arrived undetected through a secret passage way leading from the local abattoir where the owner, sympathetic to the cause allowed them passage through the back door.

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The Masked Ball of Catherine Street

Legend has it that a masked ball was originally danced on Catherine Street.  It is most commonly dated to 1811, but sources suggest that the tradition of a ritual masked dance in Limerick goes back to pre-Christian times.  In 2011, 200 years since its first official performance, is the first official revival of this proud tradition.
   

The Visit from Iressia

The great-grandmother of the present queen of Iressia travelled to  Ireland in 1897. A humble milliner, she lived and worked on Catherine Street. After two months she returned to Russia where she immediately married and soon after the marriage gave birth to a child.  Some people said that the baby looked nothing like his father and suspected that little red-headed child had Irish roots…roots that went all the way back to Catherine Street.

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The Butcher's Bride

This gothic tale is a tragic romance where a young girl fell in love with a local butcher from Catherine Street, and in her attempt for him to notice her and return her affections she sewed together a dress made out of  meat, using a pig’s carcass as a corset and the skin and entrails to form a skirt. But this romance was doomed as the butcher, horrified, spurned her advances, and she went mad and killed herself in the local abbatoir…
This is the full story, an original Limerick ballad.
"Our tale takes place
On old Catherine street,
Of a young butcher boy,
and a dress made of meat.

His life was his craft,
his meat was his pride,
In his quaint little shop,
he would always reside 

Handsome was he
it must be said,
catching the eye of many
a maiden unwed.

One such girl,
a quiet little thing,
frequented daily
in hopes of a fling.

She glanced and she smiled
while she ordered her meat,
cutlets of pork
and ribs, as a treat.

He paid no attention
and noticed her not,
"this will never do"
'twas his heart that she sought.

But she had a plan
To make him her own,
To win his heart
 with a dress she had sewn.

She gathered the cutlets,
the ribs, and some hide,
to fashion a dress
fit for a bride.

Sewing all day and night.
to finish it neat,
"his heart will be mine,
with this dress made of meat.

To his shop she did go,
with a heart full of joy,
through the window she spied
her loved butcher boy.

As she peered through the glass
her heart gave a shudder,
there he lay,
in the arms of another.

She fell to the ground,
her cries filled the air
his heart belonged to her
and with no other would she share.

She leapt through the glass,
On the lovers beneath,
and ripped out his heart,
with her bare hands and teeth.

With his heart finally hers,
away she fled,
to the warmth of a knife,
in a cold slaughter shed."

The Magic Bush

Legend has it that this bush, now located outside Flannery’s on Catherine Street, has magical  properties.  For years the bush has changed the fates of the citizens of Catherine Street. When exactly the magical properties of the bush were discovered is unknown but throughout history the bush has been a site of prayer and pilgrimage. It is said; "to take from the bush invites despair, to give to the bush invites good fortune" and this has manifested itself over the history of the street. There are many examples of its power such as; it is believed that Munster's victory over the All Blacks came from a night in Flannery's and prayer to the bush. Unconfirmed rumours claim that ex-taoiseach Brian Cowen selfishly and irresponsibly took from the bush causing the present economic downturn. No-one can deny the power of the bush and the questions simply stands.  Today, testimonials tied to its branches tell stories of how it has changed the lives of all on the street.

The Tale of Miss Christy

Miss Christy was a notorious recluse who inhabited a house on old Catherine Street. Originally she ran a workshop where she created and sold dresses from 1865 to 1905, when she  mysteriously shut her buisness down and became a hermit.Never seen out of her house Miss Christy was well known amongst the Limerick community for her relationship with the town's children. She would invite each child on their birthday to visit her in her old house. For them, she would  have a hand-made gift  to take in return for a patch of their clothing. She would collect these patches to make dresses for herself to wear. Miss Christy was most famously involved in the infamous disappearance of Michael O' Connor. The child vanished on his birthday and was last seen on his trip o Miss Christy. The woman was blamed or the child's disappearance and when a patch of Michael's clothing was found on her dress she was found guilty of kidnap and murder. Taken from her home she spent years at a mental hospital in Cork where she never spoke a word to anyone. Two years before her death she was released and returned to her home in Limerick. Children were not allowed to go near her house when she returned but on every child's birthday there would be a present waiting right outside her door for them to collect..