Old Bridge — Town Parks,carrickbeg

This bridge crosses the River Suir and connects Carrick-on-Suir with Carrickbeg, running from Bridge Street in the former to Abbey Hill in the latter. There are records of pontage grants made in 1343 to 1356 (Bradley 1985, 41) and portions of the bridge possibly date from this time (O'Keefe and Simington 1991, 156-8). The present eight arch structure has been dated to 1447 (Craig and Garner 1975, 16-18) but it may be of 16th-century date (O'Keefe and Simington 1991, 156-8). The bridge is depicted on the Down Survey map of 1656. The present bridge (L 91.4m; Wth 4.6m) consists of eight segmental arches (Wth 6m), the S arch was widened in the late 18th/early 19th century to double its width (Wth 15.2m). There are massive triangular cutwaters on the upriver side which have been brought up to parapet level to form pedestrian refuges, while the rectangular piers on the downriver side are also brought up to form similar refuges in the parapet wall. There is a large rectangular refuge at the middle of the bridge which is known as 'Nailers House'. Simington and O'Keefe (1991, 156-8) date the bridge, based on structural form, to the 15th or 16th century. According to Pollock (2004, 472) an arch uncovered in the bridge during an excavation in 2001 may be of 15th- or 17th-century date. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 26 August 2011