Survey Data
Reg No
40849019
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1780 - 1820
Coordinates
191297, 369809
Date Recorded
02/11/2007
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Single-arch road bridge, built c. 1800, carrying small country road over the Ballintra River. Segmental-headed arch having roughly dressed stone voussoirs and squared rubble stone construction to the arch barrel. Irregularly coursed and squared rubble stone construction to spandrels and parapets. Parapet to the east now damaged. Tarmacadam deck with vegetation to verges and centre. Located in the rural countryside to the west of Ballintra.
Appraisal
This appealing and quite picturesque bridge retains its early form and character. Its continued survival and use stands as testament to the quality of its original construction, and of the skill of the masons involved. This utilitarian structure is enhanced by the dressed stone voussoirs to the arch. This bridge was probably originally constructed during the late eighteenth-century or the early nineteenth-century, a period which saw a great deal of road and bridge-building in Ireland, particularly by the Grand Juries (the forerunners of the County Councils). This bridge may be associated with former corn mills that stood adjacent to the east of the bridge c. 1836 (Ordnance Survey first edition six-inch map) and adjacent to the west, c. 1907 (Ordnance Survey third edition six-inch map). This bridge is an appealing feature in the rural countryside to the west of Ballintra, and is an integral element of the built heritage of the local area.