Limerick Institute of Technology (
LIT) is an institution of
higher educationHigher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
in
LimerickLimerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
,
IrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and is one of 13 institutes that are members of the Institutes of Technology Ireland (IOTI). The Institute has four campuses in Limerick City, one in both
ThurlesThurles is a town situated in North Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Eliogarty and is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly...
and
ClonmelClonmel is the county town of South Tipperary in Ireland. It is the largest town in the county. While the borough had a population of 15,482 in 2006, another 17,008 people were in the rural hinterland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian army which sacked both...
in
County TipperaryCounty Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
and a regional learning centre in
EnnisEnnis is the county town of Clare in Ireland. Situated on the River Fergus, it lies north of Limerick and south of Galway. Its name is a shortening of the original ....
,
County Clare-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...
. The main campus is located at Moylish Park on the north of Limerick city and houses the School of the Built Environment, the School of Business and Humanities and the School of Science, Engineering and Information Technology. The
School of Art & DesignLimerick School of Art and Design or LSAD is an art college in Limerick City in Ireland. The school is one of the five constituent schools of Limerick Institute of Technology and operates on two of LIT's campuses in Limerick City, located on Clare Street and George's Quay; both are about 2KM from...
is located at the Clare Street and George's Quay campuses. LIT's Tipperary School is based at the Thurles and Clonmel campuses.
Similar to the other institutes of technology, LIT offers courses at Level 6 (certificate) through Level 10 (Ph.D) whilst also catering for craft apprentices and adult and continuing education. The Institute was named as The Sunday Times Institute of Technology of the Year for 2008, as published in
The Sunday Times University Guide.
History
A series of technical colleges, to be known as Regional Technical Colleges (RTCs) was announced by the Minister for Education,
Patrick HilleryPatrick John "Paddy" Hillery was an Irish politician and the sixth President of Ireland from 1976 until 1990. First elected at the 1951 general election as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Clare, he remained in Dáil Éireann until 1973...
in 1963 and the first of the RTCs were opened in
Athlone,
CarlowCarlow is the county town of County Carlow in Ireland. It is situated in the south-east of Ireland, 84 km from Dublin. County Carlow is the second smallest county in Ireland by area, however Carlow Town is the 14th largest urban area in Ireland by population according to the 2006 census. The...
,
DundalkDundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...
,
SligoSligo is the county town of County Sligo in Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is sometimes referred to as a city, and sometimes as a town, and is the second largest urban area in Connacht...
and
WaterfordWaterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
in 1970. A Regional Technical College for Limerick was cancelled after a
National Institute for Higher EducationA National Institute for Higher Education was a category of higher education institution established in the Republic of Ireland to provide higher level technical education above the standard of the then established Regional Technical College system but at university level...
was announced for the city in 1972.
The Limerick City Vocational Education Committee (VEC) independently planned to build Limerick Technical College and acquired land at Moylish Park to do this. The college was opened in 1975 and has since developed into the main campus of Limerick Institute of Technology. In 1980 the VEC established
Limerick College of Art, Commerce and Technology (
Limerick CoACT) to include the newly established
Limerick School of Art and DesignLimerick School of Art and Design or LSAD is an art college in Limerick City in Ireland. The school is one of the five constituent schools of Limerick Institute of Technology and operates on two of LIT's campuses in Limerick City, located on Clare Street and George's Quay; both are about 2KM from...
, the School of Professional Studies, located on O'Connell Avenue and the Limerick Technical College at Moylish Park.
CoACT finally became a Regional Technical College in 1993 and was finally upgraded to
Institute of TechnologyInstitute of technology is a designation employed in a wide range of learning institutions awarding different types of degrees and operating often at variable levels of the educational system...
status in 1997, along with the rest of the RTCs. The Institute awards its own bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees, which were previously awarded by the
Higher Education and Training Awards CouncilThe Higher Education and Training Awards Council , the legal successor to the National Council for Educational Awards , grants higher education awards in Ireland in the extra-university system...
.
Organization
The Institute has five faculties, which are known in LIT as "Schools".
- Art & Design
- Department of Design
- Department of Fine Art
- The Built Environment
- Department of Built Environment Management
- Department of Construction Engineering
- Business & Humanities
- Department of Business
- Department of Humanities
- Science, Engineering & Information Technology
- Department of Applied Science
- Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering
- Department of Mechanical & Automobile Engineering
- Department of Information Technology
- Tipperary School
- Department of Business, Education & Social Science
- Department of Technology, Media & Science
The Development Office works with the Registrar and Heads of School/Department to address the widening participation agenda in the broadest sense from Level 5 to Level 10 as per the
National Framework of QualificationsThe National Framework of Qualifications is a system used to describe levels of educational qualifications in Ireland. Responsibility for maintaining and developing the framework lies with the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland....
by piloting new initiatives and then assisting to mainstream these initiatives within LIT. The Development Office activity includes: enhancing R&D and Technology Transfer; managing relationships with second level education providers; Lifelong Learning; and liaison with enterprise and employment development agencies in the Mid-West region.
Enterprise and research
Limerick Institute of Technology engages with both established industries and start-up businesses. The Enterprise Acceleration Centre (EAC) is an incubation facility for start-up companies, with particular emphasis on export and growth-focused businesses. The centre is located on the Moylish Park campus and is 1,350 m2 with 18 self-contained units. Client companies can rent office suites and avail of management development supports, including one-to-one business coaching, peer networking and research collaboration. The centre works with enterprise support agencies, including
Enterprise IrelandEnterprise Ireland is the Irish leading state economic development agency focused on helping Irish-owned business deliver new export sales. The core mission of Enterprise Ireland is to accelerate the development of Irish enterprises capable of achieving strong positions in global markets resulting...
and
County & City Enterprise BoardIreland's County & City Enterprise Boards were established in 1993, as companies limited by guarantee, during a time of high unemployment and limited opportunity for business. They were given statutory status under the Industrial Development Act of 1995...
s and is a Microsoft BizSpark Network Partner.
The Limerick Enterprise Acceleration Platform (LEAP) is an annual programme run in the EAC. It is designed to support entrepreneurs in their quest to establish sustainable businesses. The 12 month programme provides supports to ten entrepreneurs to challenge and guide them to develop an investor-ready business plan while also supporting them to win the sales that will make their business viable. LEAP is an Enterprise Platform Programme, funded by the Higher Education Authority.
The
Shannon Applied Biotechnology CentreThe Shannon Applied Biotechnology Centre is a partnership between the Institute of Technology, Tralee and Limerick Institute of Technology and is co-located between these research institutes in Ireland. The SABC applies bioprocessing to a variety of different source materials to derive added...
(SABC) is based on the main campus and is a joint venture between LIT and the
Institute of Technology, TraleeInstitute of Technology, Tralee is a third-level educational institution located in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland. It was established in 1977 as the Regional Technical College, Tralee.-General information:...
. It provides applied scientific services to industry in the area of integrated approaches to problem solving associated with the better utilisation of natural materials and the novel bio-resources they contain.
Sports
LIT has a very strong focus on sport with
hurlingHurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
and
rugbyRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
being the most dominant. This is hardly surprising as the main campus is located next to the world famous
Thomond ParkThomond Park is a stadium located in Limerick in the Irish province of Munster. The stadium is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union and count Munster Rugby, Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC as tenants. The capacity of the stadium is 26,500 following its large scale redevelopment in...
, home of
Munster RugbyMunster Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Munster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup.The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish...
and only a few hundred yards from the
Gaelic GroundsThe Gaelic Grounds or Páirc na nGael is the principal Gaelic Athletic Association stadium in Limerick City, Ireland, home to the Limerick hurling and football teams....
, home of
Limerick GAAThe Limerick County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Limerick GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Limerick...
. The Institute senior hurling team captured the
Fitzgibbon CupThe Fitzgibbon Cup the championship for top division of university hurling in Ireland. It is administrated by the Higher Education committee which is part of the Gaelic Athletic Association...
in 2005 and 2007 and the senior rugby team captured the All-Ireland Colleges Championship in 1998, 1999 and 2005.
One of the largest sports club in the Institute is the Outdoor Club. This was founded in 2002 and runs on the philosophy "activity for all". It caters for all students/staff, past and present interested in non-competitive activities such as
HillwalkingIn the British Isles, the terms hillwalking or fellwalking are commonly used to describe the recreational outdoor activity of walking on hills and mountains, often with the intention of visiting their summits...
,
OrienteeringOrienteering is a family of sports that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain, and normally moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they...
,
MountaineeringMountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
,
CanoeingCanoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....
/
KayakingKayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...
,
Rock ClimbingRock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...
,
WindsurfingWindsurfing or sailboarding is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. It consists of a board usually two to four metres long, powered by the orthogonal effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a...
,
SurfingSurfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
,
CavingCaving—also occasionally known as spelunking in the United States and potholing in the United Kingdom—is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems...
,
SailingSailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
and
Mountain BikingMountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can...
.
Millennium Theatre
The Millennium Theatre is located at Moylish Park and is host to a variety of live entertainment, concerts, recitals, drama, comedy and dance, with a capacity of 400. It also doubles as the largest lecture theatre on the Moylish Park campus.
External links