Survey Data
Reg No
13402732
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Previous Name
Calliaghstown Bridge
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1850 - 1870
Coordinates
217367, 253176
Date Recorded
04/08/2005
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Single-arch road bridge over tributary of the Tang River, built c. 1860. Round-headed arch having rock-faced limestone voussoirs with dressed margins. Squared coursed rock-faced limestone spandrel walls, parapets and abutments. Squared dressed limestone masonry to barrel, recently repair with cement. Rounded cut limestone coping over parapets. Spans border with County Westmeath, and located to the southeast of Ballymahon. Possibly incorporates fabric of earlier bridge to site (to either end of parapet).
Appraisal
A robustly-built small-scale bridge, of mid nineteenth-century appearance, which is a pleasing feature in the rural landscape to the extreme southeast corner of County Longford. This bridge shows evidence of highly skilled craftsmanship in its stonemasonry throughout. The good quality heavily rock-faced masonry is a typical feature of the many bridges built throughout Ireland by the Board of Works in the mid nineteenth-century, and particularly between c. 1847 - 60, suggesting that they may have been responsible for its construction. This bridge is similar in form to a number of other bridges in County Longford, which suggests that it was built as part of a general drainage and/or bridge building programme. The present structure replaced an earlier bridge at this site (Ordnance Survey first edition six-inch map 1838), which was known as Calliaghstown Bridge after the townland in County Westmeath it straddles to the southeast. This simple structure adds historic interest to its pleasant rural location, and is an integral element of the built heritage of the Ballymahon area.