Welcome to Pigtown, the nickname for Limerick, Ireland, according to a character in Mike Finn's new dramedy, which gets its American premiere April 19-June 9 at Off Broadway's Irish Repertory Theatre.

The Rep's artistic director, Charlotte Moore, directs. Character Tommy Clocks, who gave his hometown the porcine name, was born on Jan. 1, 1900 and in the last hundred years he has seen a thousand changes in Limerick, some humorous and some devastating. Although he is only a humble hog butcher, Clocks reveals the horrors of World War II, the heartbreak of emigration to America and the prejudices of his anti-Semitic city. Finn was nominated for a 1999 Irish Theatre Award for Pigtown. His other plays include Charlie Chaplin's Mother Was an Irishman, Nevereverland, Snowwhite.com and Ellis Island.

Irish Repertory regular Jarlath Conroy (A Life, Our Lady of Sligo) stars as Tommy Clocks. Also in the cast are Dara Coleman, David Costelloe, Terry Donnelly, Rosemary Fine, Laura James Flynn, Christopher Joseph Jones, John Keating, Aedin Moloney, Declan Mooney and Anto Nolan.

Pigtown opens April 28. Tickets are $35-$40. The Irish Repertory Theatre is located at 132 West 22nd Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. For reservations, call (212) 727-2737. Irish Repertory Theatre is on the web at http://www.irishrepertorytheatre.com.

— By Christine Ehren