Islandbridge

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Islandbridge
Droichead na hInse
Sarah's Bridge, ca 1820
Island Bridge circa 1820 (then called "Sarah's Bridge")
Crosses River Liffey
Locale Dublin
Designer Alexander Stevens[1]
Design Arch bridge
Material Ashlar masonry
Total length 32m[2]
Number of spans 1
Construction end 1791-1793
Preceded by First: 1577
Rebuilt: 1791
Renamed: 1922
Coordinates 53°20′50″N 6°18′30″W / 53.3472°N 6.3083°W / 53.3472; -6.3083Coordinates: 53°20′50″N 6°18′30″W / 53.3472°N 6.3083°W / 53.3472; -6.3083

Island Bridge (Irish: Droichead na hInse) (formerly Sarah or Sarah's Bridge) is a road bridge spanning the River Liffey, in Dublin, Ireland and joining the South Circular Road to Conyngham Road at the Phoenix Park.

Island Bridge and the surrounding area are so named because of the island formed here by the meeting of the Camac and Liffey rivers further downstream. At the upstream right-bank foot of the bridge a substantial millrace can be heard rejoining the main river flow.

History

In 1577, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, while Sir Henry Sidney was Lord Deputy of Ireland, an arched stone bridge was built here to replace an earlier structure nearby at Kilmainham.[1]

This bridge was swept away by a flood in 1787,[1] and between 1791 and 1793 the replacement bridge, that is standing today, was constructed. The structure is a single[3] 32-metre span ashlar masonry elliptical arch bridge[4] and was originally named Sarah's Bridge after Sarah, Countess of Westmoreland, wife of the then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland, who laid the first stone on the June 22, 1791.[5]

The bridge was renamed Island Bridge in 1922 following independence from Britain of the Free State, similarly to many other Dublin bridges named for British peers.

Gallery

  • Road view of the bridge

  • Islandbridge in 2012

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Islandbridge.
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ruddock, Ted (2008). Arch Bridges and Their Builders 1735-1835. Cambridge University Press. p. 122. ISBN 0-521-09021-0. 
  2. ↑ Island Bridge at Structurae
  3. ↑ Antiquemapsandprints.com - 1828 Print from Ireland Illustrated Petrie, Barlett, & Baynes (with text by George Newenham Wright).
  4. ↑ Current and Future Trends in Bridge Design, Construction and Maintenance, Institution of Civil Engineers, ISBN 0-7277-3091-6
  5. ↑ Chapters.eiretek.org - Extract from Historical Guide to the City of Dublin G.N. Wright 1825.
Bridges in Dublin over the Liffey (west to east)
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