Mountcollins Bridge, County Limerick

What is recorded here

Mountcollins Bridge gives the River Feale two generous arches and leaves the motorists to negotiate one narrow crossing. A whole river gets waved through; two men in cars must first establish whose grandfather owned the road.

Double-span humpback road bridge, built c. 1870, spanning the River Feale. Having elliptical-headed arches with rusticated limestone voussoirs and rendered soffits. Springing from rusticated limestone piers with bowed cutwaters and domed tooled limestone capping, having concrete reinforcement to the bases. Dressed rubble stone spandrels and splayed rubble stone parapet walls with rendered coping. Built using natural bed rock as foundation.

This impressive road bridge is a fine example of nineteenth-century engineering achievements with its wide elliptical spans over the River Feale. Constructed on natural rock outcrops, the bridge is enlivened by its bowed cutwaters with domed capping and its use of contrasting textures in its materials which further enhance the visual appeal of the bridge. The narrow form of the bridge attests to the age of the structure when horse drawn carriages were the main form of transport.

From the Buildings of Ireland (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage) record 21905205

This does not grant access. Most recorded buildings are privately owned; view them only from public ground unless the owner allows entry.

Places near here

Photo credits

National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Jonathan Thacker, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
Mike Searle, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
A.-K. D., Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wikimedia Commons contributor · CC BY-SA 3.0
Bernard, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
EecherplazGinkgo06.jpg : Cayambe derivative work: Ginkgotree ( talk ), Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
Marathon, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
David Dixon, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
Adrian Beney, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0