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I've been doing a bit of random reading today, and it turns out that
while the limerick's birth seems to have been benign, it matured into
immaturity: 'clean limerick' is a contradiction in terms.
Thinking this through, I imagine groups of (Irish, and I yes - I am one)
men (I'm one of those too) hanging out in bars trading limericks. Sooner
or later, Irish Ale being what it is and having the effect it does, these
gentle(?)men eventually start improvising limericks for the purpose of
tossing insults across the divides between tables.
This is likely to be a rowdy event in any case. If you happen to be in
North Ireland, the man from Donegal may start:
A fat drunk from the county of Derry...
...and it's all downhill from there.
The thing is, if you are from Limerick - the city and county - you are
essentially immune to this sort of thing. Any fourth-beer brawls of
poetic wit in which you may find yourself engaged are dominated not by
your muse, but by your syllabic immunity: I can't think of a single
proper rhyme for Limerick.
-rbarry
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