Survey Data
Reg No
13400103
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1800 - 1830
Coordinates
223518, 297723
Date Recorded
27/07/2005
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Single-arch limestone road bridge over unnamed river and former millrace, built c. 1815. Segmental-headed arch with rock-faced limestone voussoirs. Roughly dressed limestone spandrel walls and parapets. Rubble stone coping over parapet walls. Short sections of rubble stone walling to either end of parapet walls (north and south). Remains of small-scale former corn mill adjacent to the west (not in survey). Modern bridge/crossing located to the east side of bridge, obscuring view of earlier arch. Located to the northeast of Ballinamuck, close to the border with County Leitrim.
Appraisal
A simple single-arch bridge, which retains its early form and character. Its form is enhanced and emphasised by the rock-faced voussoirs to the arch, by the extended parapet walls and by the rubble stone coping to the parapet walls. This bridge may have been built at the same time as the modest former corn mill building (not in survey) to the west, possibly during the early nineteenth century which was a boom period for the Irish corn milling industry. The mill was in existence in 1826, when it was in the ownership of the Beatty family (will dated Sept. 22th 1826). A millpond formerly lay to the east side of the bridge, which probably explains the extended parapet wall to this side of the bridge. It represents a subtle feature in the landscape of north County Longford, adding historic appeal to its rural location.