Survey Data

Reg No

20865053


Rating

Regional


Categories of Special Interest

Architectural, Historical, Social


Original Use

Bridge


In Use As

Bridge


Date

1820 - 1840


Coordinates

165296, 71491


Date Recorded

28/02/2011


Date Updated

--/--/--


Description

Triple-arch road bridge, built c.1830, carrying road over River Lee. Dressed limestone walls with segmental-arched openings having ashlar voussoirs, string course at road level, spandrels, parapet and U-cutwaters. Inscribed plaques in Irish and English to parapet. Tarmacadam to carriageway with footpath to east side.

Appraisal

A fine nineteenth-century bridge, originally called Wellington Bridge, which retains much of its historic fabric. Built by G.R. Pain, the attribution of the design remains uncertain, and may have been designed by Pain or possibly by John Richard Griffin. The carefully executed stone work is a reminder of the skill of the masons who were involved in its construction. In constant use today, and taking substantially more traffic than its originally designers could have imagined, it is a testament to nineteenth-century engineering. The renaming of the bridge to reflect political changes is common throughout the country.