Lucan Bridge
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Lucan Bridge () is a road bridge spanning the
River Liffey The River Liffey (Irish language, 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 Tributary, tributaries include t ...
in
Lucan Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November AD 39 – 30 April AD 65), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba, Hispania Baetica (present-day Córdoba, Spain). He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imper ...
,
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, 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, Dublin City, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, located on the northern banks of the River Liffey between Chapelizod and Lucan, Dublin, Luc ...
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. History 1684 bridge Replacing a short-lived wooden structure, th ...
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 craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...
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 structural load, loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either si ...
in Ireland, and is constructed from
ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...
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 upward extension of a 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/brea ...
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 (died 1739), Agmondisham Vesey (1677–1739) Irish landowner and politician *Agmondisham Vesey (1708–1785), Agmondesham Vesey (1708–85) Irish politician an ...
'' 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 in a storm in 1802. 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. History Origins Kilmainham's foundation dates ...
which was completed in 1793. The walls are made of squared
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
, with the slender, ashlar
voussoir A voussoir ( UK: ; US: ) is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.“Voussoir, N., Pronunciation.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7553486115. Acces ...
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 . Lucan Bridge is designated as a protected structure within the South Dublin County Development Plan 2022-2028.


References

{{Dublin Liffey Bridges Buildings and structures in South Dublin (county) Buildings listed on the South Dublin Record of Protected Structures Bridges in County Dublin