Survey Data
Reg No
31956004
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Social, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1755 - 1760
Coordinates
196663, 225440
Date Recorded
13/08/2003
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Sixteen-arch road bridge, completed in 1757, spanning the River Shannon. Concrete fixed span added to east end in 1983. Random coursed limestone walls with ashlar voussoirs to round-headed arch-rings. Stone corbels to rendered soffits. Cut stone string courses to parapets surmounted by cut stone coping. Full-height upstream and downstream V-cutwaters with pedestrian refuges to parapet. Limestone plaque to east end gives dates for bridges construction and opening to navigation. Modern metal lamp standards to road surface.
Appraisal
Lending its name to the village located on the Offaly side of the river, Shannonbridge is one of the finest viaducts in Ireland. The massive sixteen-arched structure is a testament to eighteenth-century engineering and stone masonry. Spanning Ireland's longest river, the bridge links Counties Roscommon and Offaly and as such is of vital importance to the region.