Bridge

The National Monuments Service's description

According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 486) the bridge crossing the River Nore at Bennettsbridge was called St Bennet or Benedict’s Bridge as early as 1384. In that year there is a reference to a chapel on the bridge dedicated to the blessed Virgin, ‘The King (Rich. II), ratifies the status of John Horley, parson of the free chapel of Benetbrygge, Ossory Diocese, in the aforesaid chapel’. Carrigan (ibid. 486-7) mentions two other references to the chapel, in 1393 and 1419.
In 1393 a stone tower was erected by John Middultoun, ‘within the said bridge adjoining the said chapel’ (ibid.). The Patent Rolls (Richard II, 1391-96) 19th June 1393, record that, ‘John Midelton, warden of the chapel of St. Mary by Benetysbrigge, Co. Kilkenny’ was granted a licence, ‘to complete and crenellate a stone tower, newly began on that bridge as a protection to travellers, on account of robberies, homocides and other evils done by Irish enemies and English rebels and licence also to construct all other needful fortifications on the bridge and to hold the tower to him and his successors forever, saving to all lieges free passage over the bridge’.
The bridge is indicated on the Down Survey (1655-6) barony map of ‘Gowran’ (Hibernia Regnum, courtesy of Trinity College Dublin) and on the parish map of Killerney (NLI MS720). The terrier accompanying the parish map lists ‘S[i]r Edw[ard] Blanchvill’ as the proprietor in 1640.
Carrigan (ibid. 487) notes that the medieval bridge had been replaced by 1743, when a traveller, describing the River Nore, remarked, ‘to Bennetts Bridge, where there is a stone bridge over it, and a few yards below ye present the Ruins of an old bridge w[hi]ch, had a small castle at ye end of it to defend the passage’. This suggests that the location of the medieval bridge is a few metres ‘below’ or downstream of the present bridge, which would be to the S.

See attached:
KK024-106001_01 extract from Down Survey (1655-6) barony map of ‘Gowran’ (Hibernia Regnum, courtesy of Trinity College Dublin)
KK024-106001-_01 Extract from Down Survey (1655-6) parish map of Killerney, in the barony of Gowran, Co. Kilkenny (NLI MS720)

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 19 October 2021