Bridge, Rathmore, Co. Kerry

Co. Kerry |

Bridges & Crossings

Bridge, Rathmore, Co. Kerry

The riverbed beneath Cullavaw Bridge is paved with stone, a detail easy to miss from the road above but quietly telling about the care taken in its original construction.

The bridge carries traffic across the Cullavaw stream on the Rathmore road in east Kerry, and while it reads at a glance as simply functional, its fabric preserves a particular approach to masonry that was once the ordinary language of rural infrastructure.

The bridge is built of random rubble sandstone and carries two segmental arches, each spanning 3.6 metres. Segmental arches are shallower than a full semicircle, which allows a flatter crossing profile while still distributing load effectively through the wedge-shaped voussoirs, the individually cut stones that form the arch ring. Here the voussoirs are described as roughly shaped, suggesting competent local craft rather than the dressed stonework of a more formal commission. The single pier between the arches has a low pointed cutwater on its upstream face, a projection designed to divide the current and reduce the force of water pressing against the structure during spates. The parapets are finished with vertical stone coping. The overall width of the bridge is 5.7 metres. It is known locally as Cullavaw Bridge, the name drawing on the stream it crosses rather than the townland or any associated estate.

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