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.