Bridge, Aqueduct in Aghantrah

Single-arch canal bridge/aqueduct carrying Royal Canal (Longford Branch) over tributary of the Fallan River, built c. 1829. Canal now dry and in use as a footpath/road for farm access. Round/elliptical-headed arch with dressed ashlar limestone voussoirs and dressed limestone masonry to barrel. Squared and coursed limestone rubble spandrel walls. Spandrel walls curves outward to the base in concave curve. Projecting rock-faced limestone walls with dressed limestone coping to abutments, forming ledges, to either side of arch (running along arch). Modern timber fences to parapets. Located to the southwest of Longford Town.

A typically well-built canal bridge/aqueduct, which is a valuable part of the architectural and industrial heritage of County Longford. Although humble in form, this structure has a simple and functional elegance. It is robustly built in fine stone masonry, which is testament to the long-term ambitions of the Royal Canal Company at the start of the nineteenth century. The spandrel walls curve outward to the base in a concave curve, which creates quite an elegant profile to the side elevations. This is an engineering solution to counteract the thrust caused by the weight of the water in the canal and is a feature of some technical merit. It was probably built to designs by John Killaly (1766 – 1832), the engineer responsible for the construction of the Royal Canal (Longford Branch), which was surveyed in 1826 and opened in 1830. The main contractors involved were J.J. Byrne and William Tarrent. Although the canal is currently disused, the bridge/aqueduct now provides a recreational amenity as a walkway. This bridge/aqueduct forms part of an extensive collection of canal-related structures in County Longford, and is an integral element of the built heritage of the area. The bridges along the Longford Branch of the Royal Canal have a finer finish than the majority of earlier counterparts over the main Royal Canal in County Longford.