The ancient Irish form of Kilmanagh, recorded by the historian William Carrigan in 1905, was Cill Manach Droichit, meaning Kilmanagh of the Bridge. That the crossing warranted inclusion in the settlement's name suggests it was considered a defining feature of the place, not merely a convenience but something worth anchoring an identity to.

The bridge itself sits roughly 300 metres east of the village, spanning a river that flows south to join the Munster River some six kilometres downstream. It is a three-arch stone structure, and it is the southernmost arch on the eastern side that gives it away as something older than it might first appear. That arch is segmental in shape, meaning it describes a flattened curve rather than a full semicircle, and its voussoirs, the wedge-shaped stones that lock an arch together, are set on edge rather than laid flat. This particular construction technique is associated with medieval or seventeenth-century bridge building in Ireland, and its presence here points to a structure that has been carrying traffic across this unremarkable stretch of water for several centuries at least.