Ballyporeen Bridge

Triple-arch sandstone road bridge over River Duag, dated 1845, having segmental arches. Coursed snecked rusticated walls, dressed stone parapets to centre of bridge, rubble stone parapets with rendered coping to each end, cut-stone voussoirs to arches, and roughly dressed V-cutwaters to upstream (west) side. Carved limestone plaque to west parapet. Covered well to south end of west parapet of bridge.

This bridge replaced an earlier arrangement of stepping stones in the nineteenth century, and there are several pointers to its nineteenth-century provenance. The snecked rustication is a testament to the skill and craftsmanship of the stonecutters and masons involved, more commonly seen in railway bridges after the industrial revolution than in road bridges. Its simple yet effective form, with the subtle variation in arch size and the geometrical precision of the silhouette shows the high level of design as well as execution.