Bridge in Ardfarn, County Donegal

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Double-arched bridge carrying road over the Bradoge River, built c. 1790, having cutwater to central pier. Slightly hump-backed. Round-headed arches having cut stone voussoirs to arches and with rubble stone construction to arch barrels. Roughly squared rubble stone construction to spandrels, pier, and parapets with random rubble stone coping over. Roughly dressed cut stone cutwater to central pier; modern service/water pipe to the south-east elevation with modern blockwork repairs to head of cutwater. Tarmacadam deck with grass verges. Located in the rural countryside to the south-east of Bundoran.

Despite some modern interventions and repairs, this simple rustic double-arched road bridge retains much of its early character and form, and is an appealing feature in the rural landscape to the south-east of Bundoran. It is robustly-constructed in 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 V-profile cutwaters and the roughly dressed stone voussoirs to the arches are noteworthy features. The cutwater to the southwest elevation has been damaged by the installation of a modern service pipe but it could easily be sensitively repaired, while the side elevations are largely inaccessible due to vegetation. The full-height cutwaters and the slightly hump-backed form of this bridge suggests a relatively early date for this bridge, perhaps constructed during late-eighteenth 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 unassuming bridge is an addition to both the built heritage of the local area, and to the extensive transport heritage of County Donegal.

From the Buildings of Ireland (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage) record 40911001

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Photo credits

Maker not stated on source page, www.pinterest.com
Maker not stated on source page, es.wikipedia.org
Maker not stated on source page, slavtradition.com
Maker not stated on source page, www.flickr.com
Maker not stated on source page, en.wikipedia.org
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Kenneth Allen, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
Donegal Live; individual photographer not named, www.donegallive.ie
Maker not stated on source page, kids.britannica.com
Highland Radio (publisher); individual photographer not stated, highlandradio.com

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