A clapper bridge is one of the oldest and simplest forms of river crossing, typically constructed by laying flat slabs of stone across low supports or boulders, with no mortar and no arch, relying entirely on weight and arrangement to hold the structure together. That one survives here at all is a small piece of good fortune.

The Ordnance Survey's first edition six-inch map, surveyed in 1841, records the structure with the notation "Foot Br.", confirming it was already a recognised crossing point during the early Victorian period. Later editions mark it simply as "F.B.", the standard abbreviation for a foot bridge. The 1841 survey was part of a systematic mapping of the whole island carried out under the direction of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, and the fact that this modest rural bridge earned a place on that map suggests it served a real and regular purpose for local people moving through the area. The remains of the clapper bridge are reported to still exist, a rare survival of a type of structure that rarely attracts formal protection or attention.