Rugby museum backed by JP McManus opens in Limerick

Paul O'Connell, former Munster and international rugby player, has become the face of Limerick City's new rugby museum. Picture: Brendan Gleeson

Irish rugby stars scrummed together to launch a €30m, six-storey, interactive rugby museum, employing 50 people in Limerick city.

The museum is partly funded by Limerick billionaire businessman and racehorse owner JP McManus.

Johnny Sexton, Joy Neville, Martin Johnson, Bryan Habana, Peter Stringer, Ciara Griffin and Paul O’Connell were all present at the launch.

Mr O’Connell, who is the face of the project, said the idea started “just before the start of the pandemic” and is now an “absolutely stunning building which will be a civic building for the people of Limerick for the next 200 years, hopefully”.

“We now have a really exciting tourist attraction in the middle of the city centre that will hopefully attract people from county Limerick into the city, from around the country and from around the world - it’s a very exciting day,” added Mr O’Connell.

The development is expected to attract 100,000 visitors to Limerick per annum and complement the city’s other tourist attractions King John’s Castle, Thomond Park, Hunt Museum, Treaty Stone, and River Shannon.

In the museum, visitors can practice their sidestep skills against local rugby legend Keith Earls as well as learn about the story of how the former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela and former captain of the Springboks team Francois Pienarr united the country in winning the 1995 Rugby World Cup in the post-Apartheid era.

“Sport has the power to unite people like little else does, and that is exactly what happened in 1995, to a country that was so far apart in terms of race and race relationships,” said Mr Pienaar at the launch.

“For me, it was the most special time in my life, and changed not only my life but changed a lot of people’s lives where conversations were had about unity, growth, equal opportunity and true democracy, and that’s what sport does, it gives you a platform like little else,” he said.