"Good oul snow" - Limerick lads go viral after building 23-foot snowman named Big Bill

A group of lads in Elton, Co Limerick have gone viral after building a 23-foot snowman that they've named Big Bill.

"We built a 23ft snowman yesterday," Jozef Servaas said in a public social media post on Monday, January 6.

"No bales of hay or tractors were used,  just good oul snow.

"Biggest ever in Ireland....and Elton?!?!"

Kilfrush Crusaders AFC in Co Limerick got in on the fun by sharing a picture of Big Bill on social media and saying: "I see a new player appeared over the weekend looking to play a game above in Elton Sportsfield."

According to Cork Beo, UCC student Servatius Antonius, 28, and his younger brother Paulus, 24, were joined by three pals to build the Limerick snowman Big Bill on Sunday.

The five-hour project got underway when the local area was subject to a power and water outage amidst severe winter weather.

As it happens, the Antonius brothers have some snowman-building experience - during the 'Beast of the East' winter storm in 2018, they built a slightly smaller but equally impressive snowman.

"When we saw Met Éireann forecasting the snow we said 'Will we do another snowman?'" Servatius, who is doing a teacher placement in Cork City, told CorkBeo on Monday.

"We got a few people from the village together and a ladder and started to build.

"The snow was just getting worse through the day so we were able to do huge big balls of snow... a few kids from the village helped out too it was great fun."

Servatius separately told the Irish Sun that the Limerick snowman's name Big Bill is a nod to a history teacher he works with, Bill McSweeney.

"He thought it was hilarious I named it after him," Servatius said. "The name really suited the snowman too!"

The size of Big Bill snowman in Limerick today! pic.twitter.com/7g5OstCRHF

— Carlow Weather (@CarlowWeather) January 5, 2025

Meanwhile, Met Éireann still has parts of Ireland under a number of winter weather warnings.

A Status Orange low temperature / ice warning for Cos Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wicklow, Cavan, Monaghan, Munster, and Connacht will be in effect from 8 pm on Tuesday until 10 am on Wednesday.

A Status Yellow low temperature / ice warning has been in place for all of Ireland since Sunday evening and remains in effect until 6 am on Friday.

A Yellow snow and ice warning is in effect for Cos Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone, and Derry from 3 pm on Tuesday until 12 pm on Wednesday.