Survey Data
Reg No
40910301
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
Date
1900 - 1905
Coordinates
186819, 366547
Date Recorded
12/11/2007
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Single-arch railway former railway bridge, built c. 1903-5, carrying former Donegal Town to Ballyshannon narrow gauge railway line over road. Railway lines now out of use with tracks removed (c. 1960). Squared rubble stone construction to spandrels, parapets, and with squared and mildly snecked abutments/retaining walls to embankments to either side. Cement coping over parapets and abutments. Squared rock-faced masonry to piers/below springing point having dressed margins. Segmental-headed arch having red brick voussoirs (four courses) and with obliquely-set/skewed red brick construction to arch barrel. Modern plaque dated 1997 to the abutment to the north-west. Deck now overgrown. Railway embankment runs away to either side (north-east and south-west). Located to the north of Ballyshannon and to the south-west of Ballintra. Sited a short distance to the south-west of Rossnowlagh Presbyterian church (see 40910314).
Appraisal
This former railway bridge retains much of its original form and character despite the closure of the line in 1960. It was restored in 1997 by a local amenity group and is an interesting feature in the rural landscape to the north of Ballyshannon. The red brick voussoirs and the skewed red brick construction to the arch barrel are interesting features of some technical merit. The use of red brick is not a typical feature of the railway bridges along this railway line. The use of good-quality mildly rock-faced masonry for the construction of the piers is a typical feature of late Victorian and Edwardian railway engineering and architecture in Ireland. It was originally built by the Donegal Railway Company as part of the Donegal Town to Ballyshannon narrow gauge railway line, which opened in September 1905 and closed completely on January 1st 1960. This railway bridge forms part of a group of structures associated with this former narrow gauge railway line in the Ballintra/Rossnowlagh area and is an integral element of the built heritage and transport history of County Donegal.