Bridge in Tintern, County Wexford (WX045-028002-)

A road from Wexford town to Tintern through Baldwinstown and Duncormick crossed the inner end of Bannow Bay by means of a ford called Scar at Barrystown, which was only passable at low tide as recounted by Gabriel Beranger, the artist, in 1780 (Wilde 1876-8, 133-4). The road is recorded by Taylor and Skinner in 1783 as one of the roads of Ireland (Andrews 1969, 151). On the W side of the estuary a spur turned NE for Clonmines, but the main road ran SW, crossed the estuary of the Tintern stream, and continued to Fethard. The bridge at Tintern (L 16m; Wth 4.95m) has three plank centred, pointed arches of unequal width, and the parapets are decorated with simple crenellations. There are break-waters at N and S between the arches with pointed niches over them. Archaeological testing on the carriageway revealed a cobbled surface but provided no dating evidence (Lynch 2010, 98-9). The bridge is approached by a causeway at W (L 44.5m) and on the E side the old road leads NE up the slope and past the church (WX045-029001-). The plank centring suggests that the bridge may be 13th century in date and contemporary with the Cistercian abbey (WX054-027001-) c. 200m to the NW, but Lewis (1839, vol. 2, 627) followed by Hore (1901-11, vol. 2, 149) says that the bridge was built by the Colcloughs with material from the abbey. The simple crenellations and the niches would support the view that an earlier bridge had been altered, perhaps in the 17th or 18th century. This is a National Monument in state ownership: No. 614 The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wexford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1996). See the attached view from SW Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload/revision: 24 July 2013