Survey Data
Reg No
11901201
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical, Social, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1795 - 1800
Coordinates
274821, 226419
Date Recorded
15/10/2002
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Single-arch rubble stone hump back road bridge over canal, dated 1796, with dressed stone voussoirs, cut-stone stringcourse and rubble stone parapet walls having oval date stone/plaque. Rubble stone walls. Rubble stone parapet walls. Cut-stone stringcourse. Cut-stone date stone/plaque. Cut-stone coping. Single round arch. Dressed stone voussoirs. Squared rubble stone soffits with traces of render over. Sited spanning Grand Canal with tow path to north and to south, and grass banks to canal.
Appraisal
Shea Bridge is a fine stone bridge that forms an imposing feature on the Grand Canal and is one of a group of bridges on the section of that canal that passes through County Kildare. The construction of the arch that has retained its original shape is of technical and engineering merit. The bridge exhibits good quality stone masonry and fine, crisp joints. The bridge is of considerable historical and social significance as a reminder of the canal network development in Ireland, which brought about many technical advances and developed commercial activity in the late eighteenth century.