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Limerick Socialist was a monthly publication produced by the Limerick Socialist Organisation and edited by Jim Kemmy.

The Limerick Protestant Young Men’s Association (LPYMA) was founded in 1853 to provide and maintain suitable premises and grounds to encourage literary and scientific study, cultivate artistic taste, create good fellowship and provide spiritual, moral, social and physical improvement among its members. A permanent headquarters for the Association was acquired in 1875 at 97 George Street (later renamed O’Connell Street), to which a new gymnasium and lecture hall were added two years later. A sports ground was purchased in 1920 at Farranshone. The Association was governed by a president, vice-presidents, treasurer, secretaries and a committee of thirteen members elected during the annual general meetings. Among its other duties, the Committee was responsible for the approval and general control of clubs which operated within the Association and which were managed by their own sub-committees. The most important of such clubs were those for Hockey, Lawn Tennis, Cricket and Bowls, which in 1938 amalgamated into a unified Sports Club. The Association also operated a billiards room, and a large library and reading room. Prospective members had to belong to one of the reformed branches of the Christian Church and be of respectable moral conduct. Women were eligible and were exempt from the subscription fee provided that they had a male relative who was also a member. The Association’s popularity began to wane from the 1960s onwards. It remains in existence, but mostly in an administrative capacity to oversee the maintenance of its premises.

Limerick County Club was formed on 27 March 1813 as a gentlemen’s social club for the benefit of the landed gentry, military officers, bankers, lawyers and other high-ranking professionals of Limerick city and county. The club premises were located in a town house on George’s Street (now O’Connell Street) and provided dining facilities, sleeping accommodation and spacious drawing rooms for meetings and social interaction. The building remained in use by the club until 1897, when it was leased to the Augustinian order, whose church adjoined the club house.

Hugh Lilburn was born on 6 November 1888 in Dromore, County Down into a farming family. In 1912, he emigrated to Australia, where he trained as an accountant and was actively involved in the Presbyterian church in Preston, Melbourne. On 25 December 1913, Hugh married Susan Stinson of Ballymoney, County Antrim (b. 18 February 1888), whom he had met in Ireland before emigrating, and who had travelled to Australia with her brother for the wedding. The couple had three children: Stewart, Jean, and Olive. The Lilburn family returned to Ireland in the early months of 1920 and initially settled in Dublin, where Hugh secured a position as an accountant with Craig Garner & Co. In November 1920, he moved to Limerick city to take over the auditing practice of C. W. Metcalfe & Co. In 1941, Hugh Lilburn and his colleague James Leslie Enright were made full partners and the company name was changed accordingly to Metcalfe, Lilburn and Enright on 23 May 1941.

Back in Ireland, Hugh Lilburn continued his strong association with the Presbyterian Church, serving as Honorary Treasurer of the Limerick Presbyterian Church from 1927 and as a ruling elder and clerk of sessions from 1928 until his death. He served as governor of Villiers school and was the author of Presbyterians in Limerick (1946). Hugh’s other interests included history and archaeology, and he was an active member of the Thomond Archaeological Society. Hugh Lilburn died on 27 November 1964, and his wife Susan on 15 October 1967.

Hugh Lilburn’s son, Stewart, was born in Melbourne, Australia on 13 January 1917. He studied at Trinity College, Dublin and, like his father, trained as an accountant. In 1944, he joined Metcalfe, Lilburn and Enright and was made full partner in 1954, when his father took a less active role in the company. Stewart was also an active member of the Limerick Presbyterian Church, serving as its accountant and Honorary Secretary for a number of years. A keen and talented hockey player, Stewart represented Munster and Ireland on many occasions. In 1949, Stewart Lilburn married Florence Eva Armstrong (b. 13 September 1925) of Clontarf, County Dublin. The couple had three children: David (1950-2021), Hugh and Gary. Stewart Lilburn died on 26 July 1998, and his wife Florence on 21 April 2005.

Myrtle Lambkin was a ballet dancer who ran a ballet school in Dublin.

See Mariinsky Ballet