Thomond Br. — Englishtown,king's Island,limerick City

The present 19th century Thomond Bridge (NIAH Reg. No. 21508001) crossing the River Shannon overlooked by King John's Castle (LI005-017014-) was described by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage as a, 'Seven-arch rock-faced limestone road bridge, built in 1836, spanning the River Shannon, with pointed curved breakwaters and short quadrant abutments. Inscription to commemorative plaque, on road side of parapet reads: 'This bridge was built A.D. 1840 at the Expense of the Corporation of the Borough of Limerick. This tablet was placed there by order of the town council A.D. 1843. The Right Worshipful Martin Honan Mayor John F. Raleigh Esq. Town Clerk Francis O'Neil Esq. Treasurer James and G.R. Pain Architects.' The building of a wider and more accessible Thomond Bridge, which was constructed between 1836-1838 to the design of James Pain and George Pain, gave better access to the agricultural districts of Clare. It replaced a series of previous bridges dating to the twelfth or thirteenth century, linking the west side of the River Shannon with King's Island. The previous medieval bridge was of fourteen arches. It is believed to incorporate pier foundations from the bridge which it replaced, as survey drawings dated to 1814, demonstrating the re-use of existing historic fabric by James Pain' (www.buildingsofireland.ie). Thomond medieval bridge crossing the River Shannon was described in the Urban Survey of Limerick (Bradley et. al. 1989, 256) as following; 'The reference to the destruction of a bridge by Domhnall Mor Ua Briain in 1176 indicates that there has been a bridge at Limerick since Viking times. The location of this bridge, however, is not absolutely certain. From the context in which the reference occurs it is most unlikely that it is a bridge which straddles the Shannon but rather a bridge linking King’s Island with Irish Town or the mainland probably on the site of the present Baal’s Bridge [LI005-017001-] (Scott and Martin 1978, 167). The bridge across the Shannon appears to have been built in the reign of John [1199-1216]. In 1358 the citizens received a grant to assist them in extending this bridge and adding towers to it in order to repel the Irish (Tresham 1828, 74: no. 82). Both Baal's Bridge and Thomond Bridge are shown many times on sixteenth and seventeenth century maps and there can be little doubt that both are ancient crossing points'. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 14 November 2019 See Hodkinson, B. (2005) 'Old Thomond bridge' NMAJ 45, 1-6