In three of its four spans, traces of wickerwork centring have been identified. Centring is the temporary framework erected to support an arch while its stones are being laid; in medieval bridge-building, bundles of woven withies or rods were commonly used for this purpose, and when the mortar set, remnants could be sealed inside the structure. Their survival here points to a medieval core beneath what is otherwise a considerably altered bridge.

The bridge sits roughly 130 metres south of where the Spitle Gate once stood, the southern gateway into the walled medieval town of Athenry. That proximity is telling. Athenry was one of the most significant Anglo-Norman towns in Connacht, and a bridge at this crossing would have been a practical necessity for traffic entering or leaving through the town's southern approach. When the bridge was first formally recorded in 1984, it was found to be in reasonable condition, with each arch measuring approximately 2.3 metres wide at the base and two piers, sometimes called breakwaters, visible on the upstream side projecting to deflect the river's flow and protect the foundations. The bridge was originally around 3.25 metres wide, though it has since been widened. The river itself has also been widened over time, with the result that water now moves through the two north-westerly arches rather than just the one it used in 1984, while the remaining two arches are partially blocked. By 2009, clearance of weeds and scrub around the base had revealed the top of a third pier, adding another detail to a structure that has been quietly accumulating changes, and concealing its older layers, for centuries.