Limerick's Richard Russell Fountain has been officially re-opened in the city's award winning People's Park after months of restoration work in the UK.

The fountain, the only one of its kind in the State, has been returned to the People's Park after spending seven months being restored by Eura Conservation in Telford.

Limerick City Council and Limerick Civic Trust decided to restore the 1870s fountain after an inspection found it in a very poor state and in danger of falling.

The fountain was dismantled without the use of many tools as the reinforcements and supporting materials were badly damaged.

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The conservation team returned to Telford within days of beginning the dismantling process and transported the historic Richard Russell fountain across the Irish Sea.

Work began with a blasting and cleaning process to ascertain if there were any further problems lurking under the paint work.

To remain true to the original form, the fountain was returned back to a mixture of red and white.

A substantial part of the work involved reinforcing and weatherproofing the fountain.

Denis Leonard, from Limerick Civic Trust, said that the People's Park has remained largely unchanged since it first opened in 1877.

"The layout and many of the original features such as the railings, pavilions and bandstands still remain," he said.

Last year, the Trust restored two Victorian Pavilions in the park along with developing a new entrance gateway know as the Pery Gate, facing Colbert Train Station.

(PR/KMcA)