Survey Data
Reg No
50100327
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1830 - 1835
Coordinates
317006, 233850
Date Recorded
07/06/2016
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Single-arch railway bridge, built c. 1833, carrying railway over Brunswick Place. Elliptical arch with tooled ashlar limestone walling with projecting cut limestone stringcourse and copings to parapets. Central section of parapet removed on both elevations, having concrete copings and steel fencing fixed. Walls terminated by full-height tapered piers and abutted to each side by random ashlar limestone walls. South elevation abutted by red brick wall to west and recent steel gates to east.
Appraisal
A robust, well-proportioned ashlar limestone railway bridge, built to carry the Dublin and Kingstown railway line. Opened on 9th October 1834, this was the first railway in Ireland, linking Westland Row in Dublin city centre to Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire) Harbour. Although initially constructed for the transport of goods, from the outset the service was overburdened with passenger traffic. The bridge forms part of a network of bridges of similar design, including those sited nearby on Sandwith Street Upper and Macken Street, that remain key to the transport infrastructure of the city. The rail network was one of the country's greatest engineering achievements and bestowed a wealth of industrial architecture and ancillary features that are testament to the skill and technical knowledge of those involved. These bridges constitute the earliest phase in the development of the railways in Ireland and were part of the transformation of the character of the city in the early nineteenth century.