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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.

See Irish National Ballet

Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet was founded in 1946 to provide dance performances at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. Its first artistic director was John Field, who later worked as co-director of the Royal Ballet. In 1955, Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet relocated to the Royal Opera House but retained its name. It returned to Sadler's Wells Theatre in 1970. Twenty years later, the company relocated to Birmingham and changed its name to Birmingham Royal Ballet.

One of the world's leading ballet companies. Originally founded as the Imperial Russian Ballet some years after 1738, it was renamed Kirov Ballet in 1935. Since 1992, the company is known by the name Mariinsky Ballet, but its Soviet-era name Kirov continues in common use.

The Bacon Company of Ireland, originally named O’Mara’s Bacon Company, was founded in 1839 by James O’Mara (1817-1899) in his house on Mungret Street, Limerick. As the business grew, dedicated premises were acquired for the purpose near the top of Roche’s Street. When James O’Mara retired from business his son John (Jack) O’Mara (1856-1919) became manager of the O’Mara Bacon Factory. In the late 1880s, he was invited to Russia by Tsar Alexander III to provide instruction on bacon curing. He stayed in St Petersburg to supervise the construction of a bacon factory. In 1891, his father bought the rights of the Russian Bacon Company and the family imported bacon from Russia into London until 1903.

When John O’Mara died in 1919, his younger brother Stephen O’Mara (1844-1926) became managing director and remained in that capacity until 1923. Having entered into the family business at the age of fifteen, his great business acumen established O’Mara’s Bacon Factory as one of the most prominent commercial enterprises in Limerick city. He also purchased a bacon factory in Palmerston, Ontario, Canada, which was managed by his son Joseph O’Mara (1878-1950) until the business was wound up in the 1940s.

In 1923, Stephen O'Mara's second-youngest son, also called Stephen O'Mara (1884-1959), became managing director. He created numerous employment opportunities by establishing bacon factories in Claremorris, County Mayo, and Letterkenny, County Donegal, in the 1930s. The three bacon companies were amalgamated in 1938 and formed into the Bacon Company of Ireland. Stephen O’Mara Junior remained the company’s chairman until his death in 1959. In 1987, the Bacon Company of Ireland merged with Hanley of Rooskey and Benesford UK (Castlebar) with assistance from the Industrial Development Agency Ireland (IDA) to form Irish Country Bacon. Shortly afterwards the old O’Mara factory in Limerick was closed down. It was subsequently demolished to make way for a multi-storey car park.