Survey Data
Reg No
11817093
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social, Technical
Original Use
Foot bridge
In Use As
Foot bridge
Date
1845 - 1850
Coordinates
273058, 213009
Date Recorded
14/02/2003
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Single-arch cast-iron footbridge over railway line, built 1847, approached by pair of flights of steps. Red brick walls to flights of steps. Round-headed blind openings following gradient of steps with red brick voussoirs. Cut-granite steps over having cast-iron railings. Single shallow segmental arch with cast-iron beams having cast-iron deck panels over and lattice work wrought iron parapet walls. Sited spanning Great Southern and Western Railway line in grounds shared with Kildare Railway Station complex.
Appraisal
This footbridge is of considerable interest, representing the technical achievements of the nineteenth century, including the early use of cast-iron. The footbridge forms a graceful feature on the railway line and is one of a number of similar bridges spanning the line that cuts through County Kildare. The construction of the arch is of considerable technical or engineering merit, while the lattice work wrought iron parapet walls are of some artistic merit having been designed as aesthetic, as well as functional, pieces. The construction of the steps is also of some significance, the red brick attesting to the improvements made in the manufacturing industry in the nineteenth century facilitating the mass-production of economic building materials. The bridge, together with the remaining structures in the Kildare Railway Station complex, is of considerable historical and social significance, having been built as part of the railway network development in Ireland that improved the efficiency of public transport and linked remote areas of the country with larger urban settlements and ports.