Bridge, Gortdromakiery, Co. Kerry

Co. Kerry |

Bridges & Crossings

Bridge, Gortdromakiery, Co. Kerry

Crossing the Finow River in Gortdromakiery, County Kerry, this modest road bridge rewards a second glance.

It is not grand, but it is carefully made, and the details of its construction speak to a tradition of rural stonework that has largely been taken for granted rather than celebrated.

The bridge runs east to west, spanning 5.6 metres in width, and carries the road across two segmental arches, each with a span of 6.1 metres. The arches are formed with rusticated voussoirs, meaning the wedge-shaped stones that lock the arch together have been given a deliberately rough or projecting face, a small decorative choice that adds some visual weight to an otherwise functional structure. The whole thing is built from random rubble sandstone, the stone laid without regular coursing, as was common in vernacular construction across Kerry. On the upstream face of the central pier, a low rounded cutwater, just 1.1 metres wide, deflects the flow of the river around the masonry. The parapets are finished with vertical stone coping along the top. There are no dates cut into the stonework, no plaques, no inscriptions. The bridge simply does its job.

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Pete F
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