Student standing above the city with Limerick in the background
cilffs of Ireland overlooking blue water
Students walking in hallway

Limerick, Ireland

Enjoy a full campus experience in Ireland’s “City of Culture.”

Our Programs

Western Europe Semester - Limerick

Students participating in the Western Europe Semester program, St. John's University's unique three-country program, will benefit from our collaboration with Mary Immaculate College, a vibrant Catholic college on twenty-five acres, with a 500-seat theater, student union, cafeteria and a sports and recreation complex. Visit MIC's Orientation Tour website for additional information on their splendid campus, as well as their welcome video to Limerick City.

Students will reside a short 15-minute walk from campus in the Clayton Hotel, adjacent to the river near the historic Georgian neighborhood of Limerick City Center.  Students will be able to feel immersed in the local culture while having access to a full university campus with sculpture trails, state-of-the-art auditoriums and an active international and local student population.

The hotel is within walking distance to the Limerick Museum, the Limerick City Gallery of Art, King John’s Castle and Saint Mary’s Cathedral.

The hotel offers

  • Breakfast from Monday to Thursday
  • An on-site gym and sauna
  • High-speed wifi
  • Laundry facility
  • Cable television

Rooms include

  • Beds, a desk and dressers
  • Weekly linen service for sheets and towels

Our Programs and Location

Lawyering Across Borders

Study Abroad

Through the Office of International Education, undergraduate students can spend a semester gaining knowledge and earning course credit at our Limerick location.

Exterior of Limerick buildling

Directions and Map

Mary Immaculate College is located between the South Circular Road and the Dock Road in the leafy southern suburbs of Limerick City.

Our Limerick Team

Mary Immaculate College's experienced and friendly on-site staff is dedicated to doing everything they can to make your studies experience as educational, comfortable and fun as it can be. Their backgrounds may be diverse, but their goals are uniform: working tirelessly for the good of the St. John's student body.


Holly Cowman
Director of International Engagement

Holly is the Founding Director of the International Office at Mary Immaculate College (MIC), having managed the office since its establishment in 2013. She has worked at MIC since 2007. Holly herself was a student at MIC. She completed a BA in Media & Communication Studies and Philosophy and an MA in Philosophy & Literature. She also has an MA in Film Studies and is currently completing an MA in Psychotherapy. She is a proud Limerick native and loves to show visitors - particularly newly-arrived international students - around the historic, riverside city and the surrounding region.

Holly's love for travel began when she studied abroad in Florence, Italy for a year during her BA degree. There she studied History of Cinema, History of Art and History of Philosophy. During that year she was an extra in the movie Hannibal and did promotional work for the British Institute. She used the opportunity to travel throughout Italy and Greece and to develop her language skills.

Holly's experience of studying abroad had a direct impact on her career choice. She now advises students from MIC looking to study abroad as well as international students coming to study at MIC. Holly considers study abroad to be the most beneficial part of college life and she is looking forward to playing a part in facilitating enriching, life-changing experiences for students from St John's University at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. Holly is a member of Mary Immaculate College’s Strategic Planning Committee and a member of the High Level Group on Internationalisation of Higher Education in Ireland, which is convened by the Irish Government’s Department of Education & Skills.


Breeda Cahill
International Office Manager

Breeda has completed a BA in Language and Cultural Studies in the University of Limerick and also completed a Diploma in Human Resource Management. She is currently completing a degree in Management Practice from the University of Limerick.

As part of her BA degree, she completed an Erasmus exchange in Aix en Provence and this highlighted the beginning of her love of travelling and working with students. After her degree, she took a year out to travel around the world and she worked in Australia for approximately eight months. After this she returned to Ireland and worked in Dublin for ten years, in Human Resources for over six years and a Dublin University for over three years, before returning to the West of Ireland, where she is from.

She is delighted to be back working closer to home and to also be able to promote the lovely city of Limerick to the St John’s University students on the Western Europe Semester program. She is always available to answer any query no matter how big or small and thoroughly enjoys accompanying the students on excursions and field trips and looks forward to the continued success of the programme at Mary Immaculate College and meeting enthusiastic students who are eager to learn and explore Irish culture!


Cepta Kennedy
International Student Liason Officer

Cepta joined the International Office team at MIC in December 2017 and as an International Student Liaison Officer has worked on the St John’s Western Europe Semester program since its inception. Prior to embarking on the this wide-ranging role, she spent the last 3 years working in the retail industry serving the tourist business in Ireland. Prior to that, Cepta worked as a corporate support executive in the telecommunications and banking industries.

Originally from Carlow, moved to Dublin and then onto Limerick, Cepta has covered quite a bit of Ireland and so loves to do what she does best – telling the students what not to miss! Apart from booking trips and venues for the students during their time in Limerick she is happy to recommend the best places to eat, shop, activities to try out so that they can get the best out of their time spent in Ireland.  As a lover of the outdoor life, her favourite trips are bringing the ‘Wild Atlantic Way’ to life for the students when they get to see Cliffs of Moher, the Burren, Killarney National Park to name but a few.  

As a mother of school & college-going students herself, Cepta has learned over the years the concerns and worries that students can have when away from home and would like to think that she can help them to push out their boundaries within a safe environment here in Limerick.