Survey Data
Reg No
40833053
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1900 - 1910
Coordinates
226423, 402458
Date Recorded
29/10/2013
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Single-arch railway accommodation bridge, built c. 1909, carrying road over the former Strabane to Letterkenny narrow gauge railway line. Railway line out of use with tracks removed (from 1960). Coursed and squared rubble stone walls. Round-headed arch with cut stone voussoirs. Now overgrown and surrounded by mature trees and hedgerows. Located in a field in the rural countryside to the south-east of the centre of Raphoe.
Appraisal
This simple but appealing former railway bridge retains some of its original form and character despite the closure of the line in 1960 and subsequently going out of use. It was probably originally built as an accommodation bridge for a farmer whose land was divided by the railway line, and it is of a smaller small than other railway bridges as it was never intended to carry a road. This bridge was originally built by the Strabane to Letterkenny Railway Company (worked by the Donegal Railway Company Joint Committee) as part of the Strabane to Letterkenny railway line, which opened in January 1909 and closed on the 1st of January 1960. This modest railway bridge acts as an historical reminder of the once extensive railway and narrow gauge railway network in Donegal, and is a subtle element of the built heritage and transport history of the county.