Survey Data
Reg No
50080356
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Social, Technical
Previous Name
Chapelizod Bridge
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1750 - 1755
Coordinates
310229, 234327
Date Recorded
29/04/2013
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Four-arch masonry bridge, dated 1753, carrying Chapelizod Road over River Liffey, having V-cutwaters to both north and south elevations. Segmental arches with cut limestone voussoirs, rubble limestone walls to spandrels. Rubble limestone parapet wall with tooled chamfered limestone coping. Rendered soffits to arches. Recent steel boardwalk to north and south elevations, constructed 2011.
Appraisal
Located on the former main road from Dublin city to the west, this well-designed and well-executed bridge is testament to the skill and craftsmanship of civil engineers and stonemasons in the mid eighteenth century, and is a reminder of the expansion in the road network at that time. The bridge was named Chapelizod Bridge but was renamed Anna Livia Bridge by Dublin Corporation in 1982 to mark the centenary of James Joyce’s birth. It makes a pleasing historic addition to the village, and is considered to be the oldest masonry bridge spanning the River Liffey.