Cooldarragh Bridge

Single-arch humpback canal bridge, constructed c.1837, carrying road over now disused canal. Coursed squared snecked limestone rubble walls to parapets, north end of west parapet and south end of east parapet demolished as a result of traffic impact. Round arch, with dressed stone voussoirs and intrados, random rubble spandrels, and string course. Steep earthen ramped incline from canal to road level. Squared random rubble abutments. Sited spanning former Ulster Canal with towpath platform running along north abutment and underneath arch.

Cooldarragh Bridge is a good example of one of the bridges spanning the Ulster Canal, the latter now disused, but running through Armagh, Monaghan, Tyrone and Fermanagh, from Lough Neagh to Lough Erne. The bridge is still in use. It exhibits good-quality stone masonry with crisp joints and snecked intersects, while the use of squared rubble forms an interesting and pleasing contrast to other more formally designed canal bridges in the area. It is a reminder of the extensive canal network development in Ireland. The canal was built between 1825 and 1842 and was 74km (46mi) long, this section of the canal opening between 1838 and 1841. Its 26 locks were built narrower than the other Irish waterways, preventing through-trade, and the stretch was plagued with an inadequate water supply from its first opening. It fell into decline from the mid-nineteenth century and was abandoned in 1931.