Plassey is an alternative name for the townland of Sreelane, located three miles east of

Limerick city Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

in the parish of Kilmurry,

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision ...

. In 1762 the townland was purchased by Thomas Maunsell (1726-1814), an

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

officer who had served under

Robert Clive Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Clive has been widely credited for laying the foundation of the British ...

at the battle of Plassey in Bengal. Having amassed a large fortune in India, he returned to Ireland and soon after purchased land including Sreelane. There he built a three-bay two-storey house over basement and named it and the lands Plassey. Contrary to popular myth, the land was never owned by Clive. On Maunsell's death, Plassey House and the demesne surrounding it, which included a mill, passed through the marriage of his daughter to Robert Hedges Maunsell. In the 1830s, Ruben Harvey, a successful miller, purchased Plassey. About 1860, the house, mill and lands were acquired by Richard Russell (1803-71), a prominent Limerick city businessman, who transformed the Georgian block into an Italianate-style house by extending it westwards with two recessed blocks each of two-stories and two bays. In about 1908 the house and lands were sold to William Bailey, who owned a rubber plantation in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. Following the death of Bailey's widow in 1933, the house was acquired by Patrick Keating, a retired British Colonial civil servant. In 1961 Keating sold Plassey to the National Rehabilitation Institution. In January 1970 the house and lands were transferred to the

National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a public research university institution in Limerick, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in 1989 in accordance wi ...

, which later became the

University of Limerick The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it beca ...

. The University of Limerick has its main campus in the area. Today Plassey House, serves as the University's administrative centre. The Black Bridge in the grounds of Plassey House crosses the Shannon from Limerick (Mill Side) into County Clare.

References

{{Limerick Limerick (city) University of Limerick Populated places on the River Shannon