In 2025 I Used The Absolute Hotel As My Base For Exploring Limerick City
The Urban Cartographer
A 15-year retrospective on photographing Limerick and navigating its shifting hotel market—comparing stays at The Pier, The George, Pery’s, the Absolute Hotel, and No. 1 Pery Square.
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In 2025 I Used The Absolute Hotel As My Base For Exploring Limerick City
Author: William Murphy - The Urban Cartographer
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08. Oct 2026
MY FIRST TIME TO BOOK A ROOM AT THE ABSOLUTE The Urban Cartographer Presents: Photographed By William Murphy Using A Borrowed Sony A7RV Finding a Bed in Limerick: 2011 to 2026 Working through a fifteen-year archive of Limerick street photographs is a sharp reminder of how much the city’s built environment has evolved—and how drastically its hospitality landscape has shifted. Gear Logistics and the Treaty City Weather In an earlier post, I noted that my first photographic visit to Limerick took place in 2014. However, while cataloguing, I uncovered a set of files from May 2011 captured on a Sony NEX-5 paired with a telephoto zoom. The gear combination tells its own story. When the NEX-5 launched, native E-mount telephoto options were virtually non-existent. To secure an optically stabilised zoom for the mirrorless body, I bought the Sony Handycam NEX-VG10E—the European PAL camcorder announced in July 2010 and shipped that September—principally to secure its bundled kit lens, the Sony E 18–200mm f/3.5–6.3 OSS (SEL18200). Visiting Limerick in autumn means taking a calculated gamble with Atlantic rain. During my visits in June 2014 and June 2015, precipitation was so persistent that field photography proved a genuine struggle—particularly because the NEX-5, NEX-7, and VG10E possessed zero weather sealing. July 2025 was a total washout as far as the weather was concerned. For the upcoming visit, I plan to carry the Leica Q3 alongside the Sony α7R VI. The Sony FE 16–35mm f/2.8 GM II is locked in for wide architectural perspectives, but I remain undecided about the telephoto end. The compact Sony FE 100–400mm f/5.6–8 OSS is an appealing option: at just 654 g and under €1,000, it delivers massive reach across the Shannon without breaking my back. However, with its extending barrel and basic sealing, pulling that zoom in persistent Limerick rain is a gamble. The alternative is the Sony FE 70–200mm f/2.8 GM II OSS—optically peerless, internally zooming, and properly sealed against the elements, but noticeably heavier at 1,045 g and half the focal reach when picking out roofline detail on the far bank. From Sarsfield Bridge to O'Connell Street: 2011–2021 My early excursions were an exercise in endurance. In May 2011 and June 2014, I stayed at the red-brick property beside Sarsfield Bridge, trading as The Pier Hotel with its street-level venue branded as The Quays. Back then, it operated as a bustling weekend hub for sports fans and celebratory parties. Late-night revellers spilling onto the quayside ensured that quiet rest was hard to come by on any floor. That experience prompted a change in my travel strategy: shifting exclusively to four-night, mid-week stays from Monday to Friday. While weekday bookings guarantee quiet corridors and lower foot traffic, they introduce the regional Irish dining dilemma: independent cafés, bistros, and restaurants in cities like Limerick, Kilkenny, and Waterford routinely close their doors on Mondays and Tuesdays. By June 2015, I moved my base to The George on O'Connell Street, returning in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021. Positioned squarely in the commercial core, The George provided dependable, modern four-star rooms right on the main thoroughfare. It made an efficient, central launchpad, though parking and street congestion along O'Connell Street were constant factors. By 2019, securing mid-week rooms there became an uphill battle as city-centre bed capacity tightened. The Mid-Market Squeeze: Pery’s Hotel The supply squeeze pushed me towards Pery’s Hotel on Glentworth Street in June 2019 and April 2022. Pery’s was a traditional, unpretentious Victorian-era establishment that long served value-conscious visitors. During my stays, however, the shift in day-to-day operations was unmistakable. Behind the scenes, the property was realigning its model away from leisure tourism towards institutional block-booking agreements, including international student accommodation and public agency contracts. When established three-star and mid-market hotels withdraw 60 to 100 rooms from standard leisure booking engines, the ripple effect across an urban centre is immediate. Displaced business travellers and holidaymakers are forced into higher-tier establishments, driving mid-week rack rates across remaining four-star hotels to peak levels. Comparing the Bases: No. 1 Pery Square vs. Absolute vs. The George Each of Limerick’s key four-star options anchors a completely different quarter of the city, presenting clear structural trade-offs: No. 1 Pery Square Hotel & Spa (Georgian Quarter): Built c. 1835–1840 as the anchor townhouse of the Pery Square terrace, this Grade 1 listed property overlooks the People's Park within the grid of Newtown Pery. Operating as an intimate 20-room boutique hotel with a vaulted basement spa and The Long Room restaurant, it trades high-volume commercial footfall for period proportions, sash windows, and residential quiet. It is suited to architectural immersion and peaceful evenings, distinct from the old commercial Pery’s Hotel on Glentworth Street. Absolute Hotel (Medieval Quarter): Positioned on Sir Harry's Mall along the canalised banks of the Abbey River, the Absolute is a purpose-built, contemporary 99-room hotel featuring Harry’s on the River and dedicated fitness facilities. Its riverside setting offers direct water views towards King John's Castle, easy vehicular drop-off, and an effective buffer against retail traffic while remaining within a short walk of the historic core. The George (Commercial Core): Situated directly at the intersection of O'Connell Street and Shannon Street, The George is a high-volume, modern 125-room commercial hub with an Italian-influenced bistro and lively bar. It places you directly on the central shopping corridor with immediate access to buses, retail streets, and city amenities, but comes with standard commercial noise, street congestion, and busy communal spaces. In July 2025, I stayed at the Absolute Hotel. It proved exceptional—spacious, peaceful, well managed, and set far enough back from through-traffic to make post-shoot editing uninterrupted. I had earmarked it as my permanent base for future trips. Booking dynamics, however, produce curious anomalies. For my upcoming trip, No. 1 Pery Square offered a four-night mid-week package that undercut the Absolute’s room-only quotation while including breakfast. Swapping the noisy memories of Sarsfield Bridge for the proportioned sash windows and quiet squares of late Georgian Limerick feels like an ideal evolution across fifteen years of documentation. Limerick Accommodation Record (2011–2026)
MY EXPERIENCE OF LIMERICK HOTELS
I Used The Absolute Hotel As My Base For Exploring Limerick
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In 2025 I Used The Absolute Hotel As My Base For Exploring Limerick City - Presented By The William Murphy - The Urban Cartographer