bridge

Single-arch railway bridge, built c.1858, carrying Portadown & Cavan Branch of Great Northern Railway over road. Segmental arch with rock-faced limestone voussoirs. Splayed abutment walls to north-west elevation. Rock-faced rusticated limestone to abutments, spandrel walls and parapets, with tooled copings to parapets and abutments and tooled plat-bands at impost level. Projecting rock-faced buttresses flanking arch to each elevation.

As part of the Great Northern Railway this bridge once formed part of an important transport link and is a physical reminder of the extent of the Irish railway network at the turn of the century. The Armagh-Monaghan branch of this railway opened on the 25th May 1858, ten years after Portadown had been connected with Armagh by the original branch of this line, and closed in 1958. The stonework in this piece of railway architecture is indicative of the quality and craftsmanship in stone-working which was prevalent in the closing decades of the nineteenth century. The large buttresses and heavy rustication provide an impression of strength and power, while the elegantly splayed abutment walls add a sense of elegance to the structure. The bridge’s design is a statement of aesthetic interest and forms a strong impression on the landscape.