Rory O'More 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 ...

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 and joining Watling Street (by the

Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

grounds) to Ellis Street and the north quays.

History

Barrack bridge

The original wooden bridge on this site, built in 1670, was officially named ''Barrack Bridge'' because of the proximity of the Royal Barracks. However, it became known locally as ''Bloody Bridge'', following an incident in which ferrymen attempted to destroy the bridge on several occasions (in an ill-fated attempt to protect their livelihoods). Twenty men were arrested and while they were being transferred to the Bridewell Prison, a rescue attempt was made resulting in the death of four men. The timber bridge was replaced by a stone bridge in 1704, and in 1811, a stone and masonry gateway known as the Richmond Tower was constructed beside it by the architect Francis Johnston. This tower was later relocated to the

Royal Hospital, Kilmainham The Royal Hospital Kilmainham () in Kilmainham, Dublin, is a 17th-century former hospital and retirement home which is now mainly used to house the Irish Museum of Modern Art and as a concert and events venue. It is notable as being the first l ...

after traffic congestion increased with the arrival of the railway in 1847. The Barrack Bridge was replaced in 1859 by the

cast-iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

structure which is present to this day.

Queen Victoria bridge (Victoria and Albert bridge)

George Halpin George Halpin (Sr.) (1779? – 8 July 1854), was a prominent civil engineer and lighthouse builder, responsible for the construction of much of the Port of Dublin, several of Dublin's bridges, and a number of lighthouses; he is considered the foun ...

, the bridge was fabricated at the foundry of

Robert Daglish Robert Daglish (1779-28 December 1865) was a colliery manager, mining, mechanical and civil engineer at the start of the railway era. Daglish was born in North East England. He became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1830. He die ...

in St Helens,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, from cast iron (with a

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

deck) and is supported on

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

abutments. Both the upstream and the downstream sides of the bridge were transported by ship and brought up river to be manoeuvred into position at the site. The bridge was completed in 1859 and opened to the public in 1861 by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

and

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Alb ...

as the ''Victoria & Albert Bridge'' (or the ''Queen Victoria Bridge'').

Rory O'More bridge

The bridge was renamed in the 1930s for

Rory O'More Rory Oge O'More (; – 30 June 1578) was an Irish noble and chief of the O'More clan. As the Lord of Laois, he rebelled against the Tudors' sixteenth-century conquest of Gaelic Ireland. Irish nationalists Patrick Pearse and Philip O'Su ...

(1600–1655), one of the key figures from the plot to capture Dublin as part of the

Irish Rebellion of 1641 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 was an uprising in Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, initiated on 23 October 1641 by Catholic gentry and military officers. Their demands included an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and ...

References

{{Dublin Liffey Bridges Bridges in Dublin (city) Bridges completed in 1859 O'Moore family