Castlemarket Bridge

A stone bridge crossing the Owenbeg River where it flows south-eastward from the NW. O’Kelly (1969, 52) associates the bridge in Castlemarket as the ‘Battle Stone bridge [which] is mentioned in documents dated 1561 as Berna Cloich Comhraic, battle stone gap, traditionally held as being the scene of a battle between the O’Brennan’s and the Moore’s of Laois’. The bridge, aligned NNE-WSW (roughly E-W), is constructed of limestone rubble, roughly coursed. It has five round-headed arches, the three main arches through which the river flows have broad flat voussoirs on both sides. On the S side of the bridge an earthen field boundary has been built on the E bank to prevent flooding, also making the two arches to the E largely redundant. The lower easternmost arch, probably formerly a flood arch, is blocked up internally on the N side and is blocked up externally on the S side by a stepped masonry buttress. The two easternmost arches on the N side have crudely cut voussoirs, set on edge, suggesting a pre-1700 date for these arches. The easternmost arch is not visible on the S side due to the stepped buttress, however, the E arch, which is not blocked has broad, flat-faced voussoirs suggesting that the bridge may have been widened on the S side in the 18th/19th century. The underside of the arches of the bridge have been gunnelled so construction details and phasing are no longer visible. There are cut waters on the upstream S side. The voussoirs of the three main arches on the S side are roughly hammer dressed with drafted margins in a style which suggests an 18th/19th century date for these. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 7 June 2016