Spa Bridge

Town of Portarlington was previously known as the town of Cooletodderie as mentioned in 1571 Elizabethan land grant to Owen mac Hugh O'Dempsie and described as containing 80 acres, which lieth southwest from the River of the Barough, and abutteth upon the town and lands called Bracklone East' (O'Flanagan 1933, vol. 2, p. 51) The town is named after its founder Sir Henry Bennet, lord Arlington (Bradley 1986, p. 42). In 1666 Charles II granted large tracts of O'Dempseys land which formed the manor of Portarlington and created the borough with a corporation, weekly market and two yearlt fairs (Cal. State Papers, 1666-9, pp. 220-2). This new town may have been superimposed on an earlier settlement at Cooltedery mentioned in 1571. The town grew rapidly and formed its basic layout by 1678 when it is shown in a map now in the Nat. Library of Ireland (Feehan 1983, p. 393). The town was laid out by George Rawdon and was fortified with a moat that enclosed the town and was surrounded on all sides by water. There is a market square in the centre of the town out of which the four main roads radiated out from the market square. Market House stood in the centre of the market square. The River Barrow enclosed three sides of the town from W through N to E and by a moat on the south side. To the W of the town King Street ran towards a bridge crossing the River Barrow that is depicted on the 1678 town plan. The four streets radiating out from the market square were called King Street running westwards towards the bridge over the Barrow River, Bennet street ran North from the square, James Street ran out Eastwards and Queene Street that ran out southwards. This seventeenth century bridge has been replaced by a later bridge of 18th century date. Seventeenth century account from 1666 mentions the 'great bridge' and describes it as ' on either sides of the way leading from New Channel Bridge to Katherine's tower and on either side of the road leading from the great bridge to Charlestown' (Bradley 1986, p. 43). Bennet Street ran northwards from the market square and traversed the River barrow where the Spa Bridge is located today Possible that remains of this bridge may still survive in the bed of the River Barrow underneath the present Spa bridge. This was one of three bridges the other two being the New Channel Bridge and the Great Bridge over the River Barrow where the Barrow Bridge is today. Laois County Council commissioned an underwater inspection to be carried out By Niall Brady for Valerie J. Keeley Ltd. In 1998, in the River Barrow in advance of construction works on the Spa Bridge, Portarlington. The survey area extended from c. 10m upstream of the bridge to a point c. 40m downstream of the bridge. A visual search and a licensed metal-detector survey revealed only one artefact of archaeological interest: a bronze ring of possible Later Bronze Age date. It was recovered from an upstream location and outside that of the proposed works.