Wooden Bridge

Crossing the River Shannon between county Leitrim and Roscommon. It is described as 'Wooden Bridge' on the 1835 edition of the OS 6-inch map. This was a primitive bridge constructed of oak beams overlain with wicker and gravel spanning ten simple, pyramidal stone piers, which survived into the late 19th century. It was replaced by a stone bridge of five arches in 1896, which is still called 'Wooden Bridge', c. 150m downstream from the original bridge, of which nothing remains (O'Keeffe and Simington 1991, 107-109).  Marked as a wooden bridge standing beside a weir (RO004-041002-) on a Longfield map of the 18th century  (NLI MS. 21. F. 43 (35)).   Cross-reference ith RO004-041001-. The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Leitrim' compiled by Michael J. Moore (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2003). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 23 September 2008