Boules and volleyball all set to enhance parks across Limerick

BOULES is set to make its mark on Limerick's northside, with plans to introduce the popular French pastime to a local park as part of a wider rollout of new recreational facilities across the city.

Metropolitan councillors approved a series of works at their monthly meeting.

Among the installations planned are a basketball court in Shelburne Park, alongside table tennis.

Also on the way to the park on the city’s northside is a teqball table. This is a ball sport played on a curved table combining elements of both football and table tennis.

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There will also be a petanque area.

This is a branch of the game of boules, in which players throw or roll balls toward a smaller target ball, with the winner of each round being the person who gets closest to the target.

Across in Mungret Park, a volleyball court is to be provided.

And in Castletroy Park, the existing boules area is to be redeveloped.

Mayor John Moran said he is inspired to install these areas from his experiences in France. “What you’d typically find in smaller villages in towns and villages across France, especially in the south-west, where I used to live, is a location where people can play boules. They’d have a coffee, perhaps a beer in the evening, and they’d play it and watch it. Then it becomes a gathering spot for people. It gives people something to do.”