Survey Data
Reg No
31309601
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Scientific, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1700 - 1838
Coordinates
82553, 279708
Date Recorded
21/01/2011
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Two-arch road bridge over river, extant 1838. Creeper- or ivy-covered walls centred on limestone ashlar rounded triangular cutwaters to pier having lichen-covered domed pyramidal capping with overgrown coping to parapets. Pair of segmental arches with limestone ashlar voussoirs. Sited spanning Bellakip River with unkempt banks to river.
Appraisal
A bridge representing an integral component of the civil engineering heritage of the rural environs of Louisburgh with the architectural value of the composition suggested not only by the construction in unrefined local fieldstone offset by sheer limestone dressings demonstrating good quality workmanship, but also by the elegant "sweep" of the arches making a pleasing visual statement at a crossing over the Bellakip River: meanwhile, a much weathered benchmark remains of additional interest for the connections with cartography and the preparation of maps by the Ordnance Survey (established 1824).