viaduct

Eight-span railway viaduct, built c.1925, to replace earlier lattice girder viaduct, built c.1858. Original abutment wing walls to east and west elevations, rock-faced rusticated stone having dressed copings, terminating in square-plan piers. Reinforced concrete piers, shouldered and tapered, shoulders and top coped with concrete, V-banding to each. Original abutments faced with identical reinforced concrete piers. Steel-plate girder spans now removed and top much overgrown.

This substantial viaduct was built to replace a lattice girder viaduct supported on cross-braced metal uprights, which carried the Dundalk and Enniskillen Railway over an ornamental lake which formed part of Ballynure Demesne. Although the steel girder spans of the current bridge have been removed, it is indicative of ongoing technological development in civil engineering in Ireland into the early part of the twentieth century, with increased use of materials such as steel and reinforced concrete. This viaduct is of historical and social significance as a reminder of the development of the railway network in Ireland, bringing about technological advances and developing commercial activity from the mid-nineteenth century. Cutting through the surrounding terrain, it is a subtle but important landmark in the area.