Lucan Bridge ( ga, Droichead Leamhcáin) is a road bridge spanning the

River Liffey The River Liffey ( Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the Riv ...

Lucan, County Dublin Lucan ( ; ga, Leamhcán) is a town in Ireland, located 12 km west of Dublin city centre on the River Liffey. It is near the Strawberry Beds and Lucan Weir, and at the confluence of the River Griffeen. It is mostly under the jurisdiction ...

, Ireland. It joins Lucan's Main Street to the Lower Lucan Road, carrying traffic towards Clonsilla and the north, and the

Strawberry Beds Strawberry Beds or The Strawberry Beds () is a locality and small settlement 7 km to the west of Dublin City, Ireland, located on the northern banks of the River Liffey between Chapelizod and Lucan where the closest bridges span the river ...

to the east. Designed by George Knowles (architect of Dublin's Fr. Mathew and

O'Donovan Rossa Bridge O'Donovan Rossa Bridge () is a road bridge spanning the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland, which joins Winetavern Street to Chancery Place (at the Four Courts) and the north quays. Replacing a short-lived wooden structure, the original masonry br ...

s), it was built in 1814. Constructed in collaboration with James Savage at a cost of more than £9,000, it replaced several previous bridges which had been carried away by floods. The bridge is the largest single span

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...

in Ireland, and is constructed from

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

masonry with a span of 33 metres (110 feet) and a rise of 6.7 metres (22 feet). It is framed by iron balustraded

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

s made by the ''Royal Phoenix ironworks'' of Parkgate Street in Dublin.

Design and construction

The first bridge built on this spot was a stone bridge laid down in the later years of the reign of King John (c. 1200). A subsequent bridge was built by the first ''Agmondisham

Vesey Vesey is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Agmondisham Vesey (1677-1739) Irish landowner and politician * Agmondesham Vesey (1708-85) Irish politician and amateur architect *Denmark Vesey (c. 1767–1822), American rebe ...

'' c. 1730, but washed away within very short time. The next was built c. 1771, but this too washed away in a flood in 1786 – as did its replacement. The design of the bridge was inspired by Island Bridge, aka Sarah Bridge, near

Kilmainham Kilmainham (, meaning " St Maighneann's church") is a south inner suburb of Dublin, Ireland, south of the River Liffey and west of the city centre. It is in the city's Dublin 8 postal district. The area was once known as Kilmanum. History In t ...

which was completed in 1793. The walls are made of squared

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

, with the slender, ashlar

voussoir A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault. Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. T ...

s drawing the curve of the arch below. Whilst the geology of the river banks could have befitted a shorter bridge, Knowles was suspected of purposefully elongating the bridge to 110 ft to give it the honour of being the longest single span bridge in Ireland, a record it still holds. In 1814, the present single-span bridge was completed by Savage & Knowles, and has remained largely unaffected by the effects of flooding common to this stretch of the Liffey. The bridge appears today largely in the same way as early 19th century visitors would have seen it. The bridge, however, has seen some recent developments, with the raising of the roadway near both ends of the arch to lessen the gradient for road traffic. Repairs were carried out in 2011 whereby lost capping was replaced, stonework was repointed and the balustrades were given a fresh coat of paint. In 2021 it was featured in the RTÉ One series .

References

{{Dublin Liffey Bridges Buildings and structures in South Dublin (county) Bridges in County Dublin