Survey Data
Reg No
40824016
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1780 - 1820
Coordinates
229867, 416975
Date Recorded
12/09/2008
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Single-arched bridge carrying road over small unnamed river\stream draining into Lough Swilly to the north, built c. 1800. Segmental-headed arch with roughly dressed stone voussoirs; rubble stone construction to arch barrel with modern reinforced concrete underpinning. Rubble stone construction to spandrels and abutments. Battered rubble stone retaining walls to east and west. Rubble stone construction to parapets with rubble stone soldier coursing over. Tarmacadam deck with grass verges, heavily overgrown to the east. Located in the rural countryside to the north-west of Newtowncunningham.
Appraisal
This single-arch road bridge retains its early form and character, and is a feature of some rustic appeal in the rural landscape to the north-west of Newtowncunningham. It is robustly-constructed in local rubble stone masonry, and its continued survival and use stands as testament to the quality of its original construction, and of the skill of the masons involved. It was probably originally constructed during late-eighteenth century or the first decades of the nineteenth century, a period that saw a great deal of road and bridge-building in Ireland, particularly by the Grand Juries (the forerunners of the County Councils). This unassuming rustic bridge is an addition to both the built heritage of the local area and to the extensive transport heritage of County Donegal.