Castle to celebrate 800th birthday a year late

A landmark castle will have to celebrate its 800th birthday a year late.

The Government had allocated €5.7m last year for major works at the 13th century King John’s Castle in Limerick. However, the castle, near the Shannon in the city, will have to wait another year for its big makeover amid fears that closing it during the summer would hurt the tourism industry.

A plan had been drawn up to enlarge the castle’s exhibition areas and re-establish St John’s as a major tourism landmark with money allocated by Tourism Minister Leo Varadkar.