Ballymahon Bridge, County Longford (13316030)

Triple-arch (originally five-arch) road bridge over the River Inny, built c. 1725 and altered c. 1970 with the addition of new reinforced concrete spans to either side (northeast and southwest). Rubble stone construction with roughly dressed limestone voussoirs to the segmental-headed arches of original bridge. Original parapets removed, c. 1970, and replaced with mild steel/aluminium railings. Battered reinforced concrete piers to modern sections of bridge. Located to the southeast end of Ballymahon.

Although now largely obscured by the later decks to either side, the original Ballymahon Bridge is of considerable antiquity. Its original narrow plan and its rubble stone construction suggest that it could be pre-1700 in date. It was originally five-arches in width but the arch to either end was obscured by later works. A bridge is indicated here on the Down Survey map of the area dating to 1652, and Dowdall, writing in 1682, records that there was a wooden bridge in Ballymahon at this time. It is likely that the present stone bridge was built during the first decades of the eighteenth century, replacing this earlier stone bridge. Slater’s Directory (1846) states that the bridge over the River Inny at Ballymahon is ‘an ancient stone bridge of five arches’. This bridge, although altered, is an important element of the built heritage and civil engineering heritage of the county.