This one, spanning a tributary of the Dissour river in County Cork, went considerably further. Its two abutments are built as castellated towers, giving a modest road crossing of roughly five and a half metres the silhouette of a miniature fortification. A metal railing runs between the towers to form the parapet, which means the martial stonework frames something altogether more domestic. The result is a structure that looks as though it was designed for a fairy tale, or at least for impressing guests arriving by carriage.

The bridge sits within the demesne of Aghadoe House, in a wooded valley carved by the Dissour river. A demesne, in the Irish landed-estate tradition, refers to the private parkland and grounds kept in hand by a great house, often landscaped to frame views and signal prosperity. Ornamental bridges were a familiar feature of such designed landscapes, used to punctuate woodland walks or frame a picturesque approach, and the castellated style, with its deliberate reference to medieval fortification, was fashionable among the Anglo-Irish gentry who wanted their estates to suggest deep-rooted permanence. The pointed stone arch of this particular example is a detail worth noting: a rounded arch distributes weight differently and belongs to an older or more utilitarian tradition, while the pointed form carries a faint echo of Gothic architecture, another favourite of the romantic landscape movement. The stream passing beneath flows southward to join the Dissour proper, situating the bridge within a quietly functional bit of hydrology even as it performs its decorative role.