On the western parapet of this five-arched limestone bridge over the Bandon river, the year 1778 is recorded; cross to the eastern parapet and you find 1838, sixty years later. Two separate campaigns of construction, each leaving its own inscription, mean the bridge carries a kind of autobiography in its masonry.

The structure spans the Bandon river on the eastern approach to the town of Bandon, and measures just over nine metres in width. Its five segmental arches, which are arches formed from a shallow curve rather than a full semicircle, increase in size as they progress toward the centre, a practical and visually balanced arrangement that was common in eighteenth-century bridge engineering. The cut limestone voussoirs, the wedge-shaped stones that lock an arch together, are laid in an alternating rusticated pattern, meaning every other stone is left with a roughened or projecting face, giving the elevation a rhythmic texture that is more considered than purely functional. On the upstream, western side, the piers extend into pointed breakwaters, designed to split the river current and reduce pressure on the structure. On the downstream side, the arches spring directly over those same piers without breakwaters, a subtle asymmetry that reflects the different hydraulic demands on each face of the bridge. The 1838 enlargement, recorded on the eastern parapet, likely reflects the growing traffic demands of a period when Bandon was a significant market and commercial town, and when roads across Munster were being upgraded to accommodate heavier loads.