Howardites
Meteorites of Britain and Ireland · Republic of Ireland

The Limerick meteorite

The largest meteorite fall in Irish history: a shower of stones over County Limerick in 1813.

Key facts

Fell
10 September 1813
Where
around Adare and Patrickswell, County Limerick
Type
H5 ordinary chondrite
Mass
about 50 kg in several stones
Where it is kept
National Museum of Ireland, Dublin (the Brasky mass) and other collections
Nation today
Republic of Ireland

On the morning of 10 September 1813 the sky was clear over County Limerick when people heard about a dozen loud reports, followed by rolling sounds like drums and musket fire. Several stones then fell over an area around Adare and Patrickswell. One at Scagh sank about half a metre into the ground and was warm with a smell of sulphur when it was dug out. Another, at Brasky, was not recovered until two days later.

Accounts of the masses vary, but the stones together weighed about 50 kilograms, making this the largest meteorite fall recorded in Ireland. The pieces were scattered along the meteoroid's path, the larger ones travelling farthest, which is the usual pattern of a meteorite shower and its strewn field.

Limerick is an H5 ordinary chondrite, from the high-iron group. The fall came only ten years after L'Aigle, and it was reported in detail at a time when scientists were eager for new falls to compare.

The best-known surviving piece, the Brasky mass, is in the National Museum of Ireland. The meteorite is sometimes called Adare, after the village at the centre of the fall.

Did you know?

Did you know?

Limerick is the heaviest meteorite fall recorded anywhere in Ireland.

Did you know?

The meteorite also goes by the name Adare.

Find out more

Nearest other British and Irish meteorites