Ballinalack Bridge, County Westmeath (WM006-075----)

No surface remains visible of the medieval bridge of Ballinalack that is depicted on the 1659 Down Survey barony maps of Moygoish and Corkaree (NLI, MS 723-4). The bridge traversed the Inny River and was situated along an important medieval routeway connecting the medieval towns of Mullingar and Longford . The terrier of the Down Survey map of Corkerry Barony recorded that ‘issuing out of the said Loughagarne is called the River Ihny upon wch is a bridge at Ballinelack wch is the cheife pass into this country’ (ibid.). The bridge was guarded by two castles (WM006-048----; WM006-049----) on the Ballinalack side which are depicted on the 1654-56 Down Survey map of Leny parish. In 1682 Sir Henry Piers of Tristernagh described Ballinalack Briddge as an 'antient and well built bridge, which having of late been very incommodious and dangerous for travellers, is now very well repaired, adorned and rendered safe for them at the charge of the county' (Vallancey 1786, 4). The present Ballinalack Bridge dates from 1874 and replaced an earlier five arch bridge. This earlier bridge was described in 1837 as, ‘situated on the banks of the River Inny, over which is a bridge of five arches, and on the road from Mullingar to Longford’ (Lewis 1837, 109). The present bridge described by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage consists of a ‘twin-arched road bridge over River Inny, dated 1874. Now out of use and superseded by a modern bridge to the south. Constructed of coursed squared limestone rubble with rusticated rock-faced limestone voussoirs to arches and rusticated limestone copping over parapet. Projecting V-profile cut water to central pier. This bridge replaced an earlier five arch bridge located at this site, at a time when the River Inny was considerably wider at this point’(www.buildingsofireland.ie). A date-stone on the N face of the S parapet wall of the bridge bears the inscription ‘ 1874 Ballinalack Bridge Rebuilt by Upper Inny Drainage Board James Dillon Engineer’. Compiled and revised by: Caimin O’Brien Date of revised upload: 20 July 2017