A gateway to the county marks half a century
THE O’HANRAHAN BRIDGE OPENED 50 YEARS AGO YESTERDAY (MONDAY). DAVID LOOBY RECALLS THAT SPECIAL DAY FOR NEW ROSS
MONDAY MARKED the 50th anniversary of the opening of O’Hanrahan Bridge in New Ross.
As work on the New Ross Bypass enters the 11th month of a 40-month timespan, the old prestressed concrete bridge named after Irish patriot Michael O’Hanrahan, who was executed by firing squad on May 4, 1916, at Kilmainham Jail, is still carrying thousands of vehicles every day, providing a gateway between county and province and an entrance point into Co. Wexford.
Hundreds of people gathered for the opening of the bridge on February 27, 1967, along New Ross quays. Today O’Hanrahan Bridge is the seventh bridge to cross the Barrow River.
The new bridge being built stretching from Stokestown to Pink Point will be the largest bridge in Ireland (and at 887m the world’s longest three-tower extradosed bridge). The new bridge and the 13.6km bypass – which will cost €250m to build – will open to traffic in 2019.
The first bridge spanning the Barrow was built in 1207 by Knight William Marshall and Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke. The bridge was crossed by King John in 1210.
A newer bridge was started by Aymerde de Valance in 1323. A bridge was built in 1460 which was destroyed by troops fleeing Ballinvegga in 1643. A pontoon bridge was built by order of Oliver Cromwell in 1649. A new bridge costing £11,200 was built by Samuel Cox in 1796 but it was destroyed by ice floes some 70 years later. A bridge was then built of cast iron and steel and pitch pine in 1869 at a cost of around £90,000.
O’Hanrahan Bridge replaced it in 1967 and was built at a cost of £380,000 by Messrs O’Connell & Harney of Cork. This figure included the cost of demolishing the old bridge.
The New Ross Standard of March 11, 1967, describes in vivid detail the events of the day.
‘It was an auspicious and wonderful occasion
for the people of New Ross, which has had many bridges, to be the first to be erected by the Government of Ireland,’ the report states.
The bridge opening ceremony was performed by Paudge Brennan, TD and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Local Government. It was blessed by Bishop of Ferns Donal Herlihy.
The bridge was built due to major traffic weight and speed restrictions on its predecessor over a number of years.
The Government paid for three quarters of its cost, while Kilkenny County Council and Wexford County Council shared the remaining cost. When O’Hanrahan Bridge was being constructed, a Guinness bottle containing the names of the men who worked on the project was placed inside one of the support structures.
Situated 100ft downstream from its predecessor, the bridge was described in the article as a ‘gateway from Rosslare to the south of Ireland’. Work began on the bridge on August 17, 1965, and concluded in February 1967.
On February 27, 1967, Mr Brennan was greeted upon arrival to New Ross on that wet spring day by Mayor of Wexford Cllr Tommy Byrne. He inspected the guards of honour of the New Ross FCA band and the New Ross Sea Scouts troop, before cutting the ribbon on the bridge.
Accompanied by Bishop Herlihy, he walked across the bridge to the Kilkenny side. Upon his return he was introduced to Eily Hanrahan-O ’Reilly, a sister of Michael Hanrahan, and to Rev Dr Birch, Bishop of Ossory.
Both he and Eily shown a plaque on the bridge bearing Michael O’Hanrahan’s name.
Afterwards, at a luncheon at the Royal Hotel, Mr Minihan toasted the work of the builders who also designed and built Wexford’s bridge and Youghal’s bridge. Many tribuites were paid to the speed at which the bridge was erected.
Among the other guests in attendnce were TDs Brendan Corish and, Jack Lynch, chairman of New Ross Urban District Council Andy Mini- han, New Ross parish priest Canon O’Byrne, and Cllr Lorcan Allen.
New Ross FCA Pipe Band performed on the day and the Confraternity Band were also present, while members of the FCA formed a guard of honour along Quay Street up to The Tholsel, as did members of New Ross Sea Scouts.
John Bennett played with the New Ross FCA Pipe Band that day. He said: ‘I was 20 and I played as a tenor drummer. It was an awful, wet day. I remember we stopped in front of The Tholsel and Michael O’Hanrahan’s sister Eily was there. People were excited about the bridge and that a New Ross patriot was being honoured by having a bridge named after him in the town of his birth. The traffic on the old bridge caused problems, especially the heavy lorries. I remember Tommy Lacey from Cross Lane was on the bridge in a hut controlling the lorries going back and forth.’
HE RECALLED the crowd in New Ross that day and all of the activity along Quay Street, the quays and at the bridge.
Martin Myler from Abbey Hall, New Ross, remembers getting the job of timekeeper in autumn 1965 for the 35 men working on the bridge.
‘It was my first job having completed my Leaving Cert. It was a great experience for me. I went to England that summer and when I came back the bridge was only after being started. I met Michael Nolan, who had the job of timekeeper, and he was going off to college so I got his job on the site.’
Martin’s role included paying wages and office duties.
Now living in Ovens, Co. Cork, Martin was in New Ross on February 27, 1967, for the opening of the bridge.
‘We had dinner at the Royal Hotel and I remember farmers shouting and roaring outside at a protest. There was a big buzz around the town about the bridge. Employment was very scarce back then other than at Graves and Albatros, which was flying at the time. Most men were emigrating.’
Martin went on to work on major projects in Cork and opened his own steel business, working on projects for Kerry Co-op and other large companies.
Dick Nolan from New Ross worked on the pontoons in a team under Dutchman Len Hoxtic. He recalled busy times working on the bridge with all of the carpenters, steel fitters and concrete workers.
‘On the pontoons there were four winches. They were double drums: one facing up river and one going to the quay.
‘On the stern side one was facing toward Rosbercon and the other towards the quay and on the bow side the same. Tony McCluskey was the main winchman. We’d be lowering piles down through the mud and tapping them in. It was good old craic.’
Dick recalls the free bar at the Royal Hotel the night the bridge opened. ‘It was a late night,’ he said. Over the past decade O’Hanrahan Bridge has become notorious due to increased vehicle traffic and resultingly traffic dealys and has often been featured on AA Roadwatch radio bulletins. The opening of the new bridge – which is expected to be named after Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy – is expected to dramatically reduce traffic on the bridge.
In May 2016 O’Hanrahan Bridge was rededicated and a new nameplate was unveiled, In attendance were grand-nephews of Michael O’Hanrahan: Pearse O’Hanrahan and Harry O’Hanrahan, along with their families, Cllr Michael Sheehan (then chairman New Ross Municial District Council) and New Ross Municipal District officials spoke at the event about the important role the bridge has played over the past 50 years. Thanks to historian Sean Crowley and Martin Myler for their assistance with his article.