The unique and historic bridges of Co. Mayo

By Tom Gillespie

UP until early in the 1980s, residents who lived on the far side of the Ugool suspension bridge near Bellacorick (pictured) were unable to bring cars to their homes without taking a longer, alternative upstream route, which could only be crossed when the river was low.

In ‘The Story of Mayo’ by Rosa Meehan, published by Mayo County Council in 2003, the history of some unique bridges in the region is recalled.

In 1982, Mayo County Council demolished the old suspension bridge over the Oweninny River and built a new Ugool Bridge, a single-lane reinforced bridge.

Eight years earlier, in March 1974, Mr. Denis Gallagher, T.D., asked the Minister for Local Government, Mr. Tully, in a Dáil question, if he would make funds available to construct a bridge to Ugool village, Bellacorrick.

The minister said funds were available to Mayo County Council under the local improvements scheme for works of this nature. It was a matter for the council to decide whether or not to undertake the project.

Mr. Gallagher said: “Is the minister aware that the sum of money provided for local improvement schemes has averaged about £100,000 per year and, when that is spread over the whole county, it is not sufficient to do the existing work? There has been a footbridge in this village for the past 32 years and that is the only access people have. Is it not about time we had some scheme to improve facilities for people living in such conditions?”

The minister replied: “This is a matter for the county council. The county council have decided not to undertake the provision of a new bridge to take cars in place of the footbridge. The council consider that the cost, an estimated £3,500, is too high to be undertaken under the local improvement schemes. They propose to improve the road at a cost of £1,700, starting in May of this year (1974).

“The responsibility for the administration of the local improvement schemes rests entirely with the county council. I am sorry but there is nothing I can do about it.”

The Clapper Bridge west of Louisburgh, at Burlehinch near Killeen, thought to date from medieval times, is surely one of the oldest bridges in Mayo.

The Clapper Bridge is known locally as the Colony Bridge, after the old Church of Ireland settlement in that area.

Of similar construction to bridges found in Devon and Cornwall, this clapper bridge, built for pedestrians, was made at a place on the Bunowen River where the water depth was generally low.

It is the largest complete clapper bridge in Ireland, stretching 154 feet across the river. Its 37 arches are superbly constructed in the primitive clapper style, each made of clapper or flat limestone slab, about two foot wide, resting on a pier of about the same height above the river bed.

A clapper bridge is an ancient form of bridge. The design is prehistoric, but most bridges can be dated to the medieval period.

The Bunlahinch Bridge probably dates to the 1840s when a Protestant Evangelist colony, including a church and school, was set up beside the river.

The colony, initially successful, went into decline and was abandoned after 20 years. The land was sold in 1878 and the church demolished in 1927.

Meanwhile, the stone one-arch Pontoon Bridge was built over the narrow strait that links Lough Conn and Lough Cullin, when a post or mail line to Sligo came into operation.

A pontoon, or temporary bridge of flat bottom boats, was previously in place at this strait and hence the name ‘Pontoon’ stuck to the permanent bridge. The name could also derive from the anglicisation of the Irish Bun Dá Abhainn, meaning ‘the bottom of two rivers’.

Up until the end of the 19th century, Achill Island remained separated from the mainland. The high level of seasonal migration and the importance of developing market towns emphasised the necessity for a permanent link across the narrow channel.

Finance for the bridge was acquired through subscriptions collected by an interdenominational committee. A swing bridge, pivoting on one central pier, was officially opened by Michael Davitt, founder of the Land League, in 1887 and named after him.

This bridge served adequately for 60 years, but then changes in modes of transport necessitated a wider roadway.

In 1947 the old bridge was abandoned and, the following year, a new bridge opened, again called the Michael Davitt Bridge, built alongside and south of the original bridge.

The new bridge was the largest bridge structure to be undertaken by an Irish construction company at the time, with J.C. McLoughlin of Pearse Street, Dublin, carrying out the work.

Mayo County Council is responsible for maintaining the ‘new bridge’ and employs local residents who operate the swing partition to ensure the safe passage of high-masted vessels passing through the strait.

The seven-arched Burrishoole Bridge, crossing the Burrishoole channel, was built in the 18th century as part of the roadway between Newport and Mulranny.

Then, in 1950, the road was rerouted along the former railway line to the north, located further downstream.

The railway line which ran from Westport to Achill had been in operation from the 1880s until 1937.

A bridge along the route carried trains over the Burrishoole channel and it was this bridge that was widened in 1950 to accommodate road traffic and replace the old Burrishoole Bridge route.

By the 1990s, however, the high level of salt in the atmosphere had eroded the steel of the former railway bridge and, in 1998, Mayo County Council replaced the bridge’s deck. While this work was being completed, road traffic was once again routed over the old Burrishoole Bridge.