Rob loves the old bridges of Wicklow
DAVID MEDCALF TALKED TO ROB GOODBODY ABOUT THE VETERAN BRIDGES OF COUNTY WICKLOW, WHICH CONTINUE TO SERVE TRAVELLERS CENTURIES AFTER THEY WERE BUILT FOR HORSE AND CARRIAGE
ROB GOODBODY is a self-confessed bridge nerd, a man who spends holidays in Paris on river cruises looking at the underside of the crossings of the Seine, leaving it to others to gaze up at the Eiffel Tower or Notre Dame.
The computer at his home in Bray contains, for instance, detailed technical files on at least ten bridges over the Dodder, 21 over the Grand Canal, 18 around Kildare and 48 in County Wicklow, just a fraction of a huge archive.
‘ They are my hobby and some of my interest is professional too,’ declares the man who knows more about the bridges of Ireland than anyone else alive. So what is his profession? His CV includes qualifications in historical geography and town planning, to which he adds an interest in local history. Rob’s business card sums up his expertise as being a historic building consultant, called in whenever proposals are afoot which might affect old structures such as the bridges.
While much of the housing which our forebears inhabited has not stood the test of time, well compiled arches are so stable that they are capable of surviving hundreds upon hundreds of years.
‘Arched bridges happen to be staggering strong. The first arched bridges were built by the Romans and some of their 2000-year-old aqueducts are still standing,’ says Rob, ‘ but we did not get them here in Ireland until a thousand years ago.
‘It is actually very difficult to date bridges because the style does not change much over a long period.’
The road network of Wicklow still depends to this day on old bridges, such as the one at Manger near Stratford-on-Slaney, which was probably first opened maybe 300 years ago. The blueprint of this ancient pile was so good that the authorities there built it twice, as they doubled the width of the bridge to cater for busier and heavier traffic.
The 18th century was something of a golden age for bridge construction and many other similar examples of widening may be detected, as is clearly visible on the River Avoca – at the Meeting of the Waters and at Woodenbridge.
An even older survivor is the pack horse bridge in Newcastle, a dusty, grassy reminder of times when many goods were distributed by strings of hard working, long-suffering equines.
These creatures were well capable of fording most streams and the Little Varty is not particularly deep, but there was nevertheless good reason for going to the expense of installing the bridge.
Keeping the horses out of the water ensured that none of them was tempted to roll in the river and destroy the cargo – it was as simple as that.
If Newcastle’s reminder of times past is tiny, then Arklow’s principal bridge is a giant and, with its 20 arches, one of the longest in the country.
Rob speculates that the Parnell family probably had a hand in the making of this enduring landmark, as they owned a quarry in the area which more than likely contributed some of the stone used in this major civil engineering project.
Meanwhile, upstream, the bridge at Avoca village is a reminder that not all such projects are necessarily successful as the river has proven particularly challenging at this point.
The bridge is a grand affair, built of cut granite in the 1860s to a design of the county engineer Henry Brett, the man also responsible for crossing the Varty in Bray.
He was called to Avoca to replace a bridge which was demolished by a storm and he must have died happy that he had done a good job.
However, Brett’s pride and joy could not withstand the stresses imposed by Hurricane Charlie in 1986 and his successors found themselves having to re-assemble all his granite pieces in the wake of the storm.
Rob Goodbody has also spent much time looking at the railway bridges of Wicklow, of which the one at Rathdrum is a stupendous example, a truly spectacular piece of engineering.
He is also familiar with the more modest constructions which were part not only of the Bray to Wicklow connection but also the long since discontinued Naas to Baltinglass and Tullow line.
The engineers who created West Wicklow railway often resorted to iron beams rather than stone arches, filling in the spaces between the metal with bricks, as may still be seen at Ballinure near Grangecon.
Rob’s reputation has spread far beyond Wicklow with the publication of ‘Irish Stone Bridges’ recently by Irish Academic Press.
The first edition of this valuable work of insight and reference was compiled by the engineering duo of Peter O’Keeffe and Tom Simington, both now deceased.
When the publishers decided to re-issue, they turned to the Bray man for a re-write and asked him to make sure that the illustrations in the revised tome were all in colour rather than black and white.
Rob recalls that, as a result, he travelled 900 kilometres around Munster in one day with his camera, a hectic response to ideal lighting conditions.
‘You never admit to having a favourite bridge,’ he reflects, ‘ but I do like Clara – it has a lot of interest,’ A narrow, 17th-century, six-span road bridge dripping with old world charm, it is well worth a diversion while in the Glenmalure area.
IN THE meantime, reporter David Medcalf was inspired by his conversation with Rob Goodbody to take a trip through County Wicklow and have a look at some of the structures which were mentioned during the chat. The most intriguing, the most unusual and the easiest to miss of the lot was the old pack-horse bridge over a local stream on the outskirts of Newcastle. It is a reminder that Church Lane – now a back road heading towards Tiglin – must once have been part of a significant north-south route back centuries ago.
The traffic was heavy enough to justify the river crossing assembled from jumbled stone which allowed the horses continue on their way without being tempted into the water. There must once have been many such bridges but
most of them have disappeared, while this rare example remains suitable for pedestrians as it runs alongside an unlovely concrete slab which caters for modern motors.
Continuing on and up to Rathdrum, below the village, the principal road bridge is a very solid piece of mature engineering indeed. On top, it is capable of carrying two lanes of 21st-century traffic, plus a couple of footpaths, while a public park provides access below for bridge nerds to have a closer look at details of the venerable pile.
A few miles away, Ballinaclash boasts a fine bridge with three arches which remains strong enough more than 200 years after it was first commissioned to deal with cars and lorries which the builders cannot have envisaged. It features a series of ‘refuges’ built into the parapets to allow pedestrians step out of the way, originally in deference to horse-drawn carriages and herds of cattle, but still useful to those on foot when faced with hefty trucks or coaches.
The Meeting of the Waters has long been a tourist attraction, celebrated in song by Thomas Moore with its importance marked by a major stone bridge. A close look at the underside of the three meaty arches confirms that it is more substantial now than it used to be when first opened for business. A clear line is visible marking how the width of the carriageway was at some time doubled on the upstream side to allow easier passage for all comers, though most of them surely never notice how they have been accommodated.
Not far down the road is the splendid granite pile which links the main road on west side of the river with Avoca village on the east bank. With its two wide elliptical arches and its cut stone blocks it boasts a magnificence that would not be out of place in Dublin or Paris or some other large city.
MOVING on to Woodenbridge, never was a place less aptly named. Yes, of course there is a bridge, but it is anything but wooden, as it is has been assembled from great rusty chunks of rock. Again, as at the Meeting of the Waters, close scrutiny confirms that the narrow original has been broadened to create two lanes – without destroying the overall effect. For a while in the 19th and 20th centuries there were two bridges here, but the railway crossing has long since been made redundant and dismantled, leaving little more than a pillar of stone in mid-stream as a reminder.
Final port of call for now is Aughrim, where the railway bridge continues in service, long after the last train puffed its way out of town. Older still is the water bridge, now festooned with reminders of 1798, which has three sturdy arches to take road users across the river, with a fourth extending the road over a mill race.
Keep an eye open on your travels, as there are scores of bridges to enjoy all over the county.