Under the direction of Limerick Mayor John Moran, families and community people assembled in The Crescent at the top of O'Connell Street to start a new custom: a joyous afternoon filled with street theatre, music, and carols.

“Christmas was a huge occasion in Georgian times in Limerick, and they wanted to bring the community together to once again gather amidst the Georgian homes and buildings,” said Mayor Moran, who himself resides on The Crescent.

"It started as a community initiative, and people wanting to have a festive afternoon in the Georgian quarter for which the city is well known, and up away from the commercial and shopping end of O’Connell Street," he explained.

To the delight and encouragement of the large crowd that had gathered on the steps of The Crescent, some fifty students from Milford National School had spent the whole week practicing their performance of Christmas carols.

Although the Limerick Georgian Christmas festival is still in its early stages, the goal is to establish it as a yearly family tradition.