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County Limerick's main interest lies in its particularly bloody history, centred around Limerick City, which was first established by the Vikings in the 10th century. The Irish fought to regain the land and eventually defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf led by the High King of Ireland, Brian Boru in 1014 after which they sacked Limerick. The city was burnt again twice during local feuding before the Norman invasion in the 12th century. The Normans built fortifications around the city and in 1210 King John visited the Limerick to make the impressive castle, King John's Castle, the centre of Norman administration in the region. The ruling Norman family, the Fitzgeralds, who were also called the Earls of Desmond, built many tower houses around the county including the restored Castle Matrix, but when the family led an uprising to gain independence from the English crown in 1571, their power base was eventually crushed. Limerick's most famous hour was when the city welcomed the retreating forces of King James II after they lost the battle of the Boyne in 1690 and successfully withstood the following siege by the forces of the victor William of Orange. The area around Lough Gur, which was the site of a large Mesolithic to Neolithic settlement also has some interesting pre-historic remains, the most impressive being the Grange Stone Circle, Ireland's largest stone circle at 113 stones.
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