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

Limerick city Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

in the parish of Kilmurry,

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

. 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 that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

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 List of governors of Bengal Presidency, Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Clive has been widely credited for l ...

at the

battle of Plassey The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company, under the leadership of Robert Clive, over the Nawab of Bengal and his French Indies Company, French allies on 23 June 1757. The victory was made possible by the de ...

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. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. 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, which later became the

University of Limerick University of Limerick (UL) () 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 became a university in Septemb ...

. 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