Bridge, Derreengarrinshagh, Co. Kerry

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Bridges & Crossings

Bridge, Derreengarrinshagh, Co. Kerry

A small road in Derreengarrinshagh, County Kerry, makes two abrupt turns in quick succession for a very specific reason: the bridge carrying it over the Dromoghty River was built at a strict right angle to the water, and the road simply has to bend around that fact.

It is a minor but telling detail, the kind of practical compromise that reveals how bridges of this type were positioned to suit the crossing rather than the convenience of the traveller.

The bridge itself is a modest structure, around 4.6 metres wide with a single segmental arch spanning roughly five metres across the river. Segmental arches, flatter than a semicircle, were a common choice for road bridges where headroom mattered less than economy of material and effort. The main body is built of random rubble, which is to say stonework laid without regular courses, while the abutments, the solid supports at either bank, are of coursed dressed stone, suggesting a degree of care where structural load demanded it. The voussoirs, the wedge-shaped stones that form the arch itself, are roughly dressed and some of them protrude slightly beyond the face of the bridge, giving the arch a slightly uneven profile. Concrete coping has been added to the parapets at some point, a practical repair that is typical of rural bridges across Ireland and does little to disguise the older fabric beneath.

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Pete F
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