Belalt Bridge

Triple-arched bridge carrying road over tributary of the Waterfoot River built c. 1800, having ashlar V-profile cutwaters to central piers. Segmental-headed arches having dressed stone voussoirs; squared rubble stone construction to arch barrels. Coursed and squared rubble stone construction to spandrels, piers and abutments. Rubble stone construction to parapets with rubble stone coping over. Side elevations now largely obscured with vegetation. Tarmacadam deck with grass verges. Located to the west/south-west of Pettigoe.

Although now largely overgrown and inaccessible to the side elevations, this interesting triple-arched road bridge retains its early character and form, and is an appealing feature in the scenic landscape to west of Pettigoe. It is robustly-constructed in local rubble stone masonry, and its continued survival and use stands as testament to the quality of its original construction, and of the skill of the masons involved. The good quality dressed stone voussoirs and the ashlar construction to the cutwaters are of a high standard, which helps to elevate this bridge above many of its contemporaries in Donegal. This bridge probably originally dates to the last decades of the eighteenth-century or the early decades of the nineteenth century, a period that saw a great deal of road and bridge-building in Ireland, particularly by the Grand Juries (the forerunners of the County Councils). This fine bridge is an integral element of the built heritage and transport history of the local area, and is a feature of some aesthetic quality in the rural landscape.