Survey Data
Reg No
40909101
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1870 - 1900
Coordinates
172419, 378181
Date Recorded
14/12/2007
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Single-arch road bridge over Bungostee River, built c. 1860. Round-headed arch having dressed stone voussoirs; squared coursed rubble stone construction to arch barrel with projecting cut stone stringcourses at arch springing point. Squared coursed rubble stone construction to spandrel and parapets. Located at the point where Bungostee River discharges into Killybegs harbour. Earlier bridge adjacent to the north (see 40909108). Bridge now superseded by modern bridge and embankment over Killybegs Harbour to the south. Located to the north-east of Killybegs.
Appraisal
This appealing single-arched road bridge makes a positive contribution to the picturesque landscape at the point where the Bungostee River discharges into Killybegs Harbour. It retains its early form and character. It is robustly-constructed in good quality rubble stone masonry, and its continued survival (although now superseded by a modern bridge to the south) and use stands as testament to the quality of its original construction. The high quality voussoirs to the arch and the projecting string courses to the arch barrel at the arch springing point add additional interest and are clearly the work of skilled masons. This bridge dates to the second half of the nineteenth-century and was probably built by the Grand Jury (the forerunner to the County Council) to provide better access to the important harbour at Killybegs just to the south-west. The refined stonework and form of this bridge contrasts with the more crude construction of the earlier bridge adjacent to the north (see 40909108), which this bridge was built to replace or supplement. This bridge is an integral element of the built heritage and transport history of the Killybegs area, and is an appealing feature in the local landscape.