Bridge

The National Monuments Service's description

On the 12th of January 1355 Clonmel received a pontage grant from Edward III (Chartae priv. imm., 59). There is no record of the exact location of the 14th-century bridge but it is likely that it forded the Suir in the place where Oldbridge now stands. A deed of 1388 describes a plot of land in Clonmel which is bounded by 'the King's way which goes to the great bridge on the west' (COD vol. 2, 210). The Down Survey map of 1656 provides a perspective sketch of the walled town indicating the bridge to the S. In the 18th century it was represented on Moll's map of 1714 as an integral part of the principal road leading to Dungarvan and Cappoquin and in 1748 it was described as a 'very spacious bridge over the Suir... of twenty arches (O'Keefe and Simington 1991, 158). The oldest portion of this bridge to have survived is that part now known as 'Old Bridge'. According to Lyons (1936, 290) this three arch bridge, originally 5.5m wide, was widened by a third of the present width about the middle of the 18th century. He states that the bridge piers are 'in their ancient state on the W side. In 1830, a Mr. Hughes, a miller in the town, removed a portion of a building projecting onto the roadway, at the S end of the bridge. This widened the bridge on the down-river side, and it was at this time that a new parapet was added. The present bridge (L 24.5m; Wth 8m), with parapet (H 1.2m; T 0.55m) is composed of randomly coursed sandstone, limestone and some granite. It has three spans and is slightly hump-backed with two large cut-waters, trapezoidal in plan, on its E and W faces. The cut-waters on the E side have an edge to them while their W companions are blunted, being square. The arch-rings are almost semi-circular and comprise a series of closely set, cut wedge-shaped voussoirs. The regularity of the arch-rings suggests a construction date no earlier than c. 1750 (O'Keefe and Simington 1991, 158). However, the stout piers and the span to pier ratio are clear indictors of an earlier structure, onto which the later features such as parapet and arch-rings were added. (Farrelly and FitzPatrick 1993, 60-1).

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of revised upload: 27 January 2015

References

Farrelly, J. and FitzPatrick, E. 1993 Urban archaeological survey - county Tipperary (South Riding) (2 vols.). Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works, Dublin.

Chartae, privilegia et immunitates: being transcripts of charters and privileges to cities, towns, abbeys and other bodies corporate. 18 Henry II to 18 Richard II (1171 to 1396)(Irish Record Commission, Dublin, 1889)

Ormond deeds - Calendar of Ormond deeds 1172-1350 [etc.] ed. Edmund Curtis (Irish Manuscripts Commission, 6 vols., Dublin, 1932-43).

O'Keeffe, P. and Simington, T. 1991 Irish stone bridges: history and heritage. Dublin. Irish Academic Press.

Lyons, P. 1936 Norman antiquities of Clonmel burgh. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 66, 285-94.