Bridge, Coorleagh, Co. Kerry

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Bridges & Crossings

Bridge, Coorleagh, Co. Kerry

A small stone bridge in Coorleagh, County Kerry carries a road across the Coomeelan stream on a single semicircular arch, and one detail about it quietly rewards a second look.

The voussoirs, the wedge-shaped stones that form the curve of the arch, are noticeably mismatched between the two faces: those on the eastern side are larger than those on the western. Whether this reflects different phases of construction, patching over time, or simply the availability of local stone, the asymmetry gives the bridge a slightly improvised quality that contrasts with the geometric confidence of the arch itself.

The bridge is a humpback type, a form common throughout rural Ireland from the eighteenth century onwards, where the road rises sharply over the arch before dropping away on the other side. This one spans 6.75 metres across the stream, with a road width of 3.9 metres and vertical stone coping running along the parapets. The stones throughout are undressed, meaning they were laid without being cut to smooth or regular faces, which gives the structure a rough, utilitarian character. Concrete repairs to the arch and parapets suggest the bridge has been maintained for continued road use rather than preserved as a purely historical object, a practical decision that has kept it in service but altered its original fabric in places.

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Pete F
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