Dublin Bridges
BRIDGES.
The Liffey is embanked on both sides by a range of masonry of granite, forming a continuation of spacious quays through the whole of the city, and its opposite sides are connected with nine bridges, eight of which are of elegant design and highly ornamental.
Carlisle bridge, the nearest to the sea, and connecting Westmoreland-street on the south with Sackville-street on the north, is a very elegant structure of three arches: it is 210 feet in length and 48 feet in breadth, and was completed in 1794.
Wellington bridge, at the end of Liffey-street, 140 feet long, consists of a single elliptic arch of cast iron, and was erected in 1816, for the accommodation of foot passengers only, at an expense of £3000, which is defrayed by a halfpenny toll.
Essex bridge, connecting Capel-street with Parliament-street, and fronting the Royal Exchange, was built in 1755, on the site of a former structure of the same name, at an expense of £20,661; it is a handsome stone structure of five arches, 250 feet in length and 51 in width, after the model of Westminster bridge, London.
Richmond bridge, built on the site of Ormond bridge, which had been swept away by a flood, was commenced in 1813; it connects Winetavern-street with Montrath-street, and was completed at an expense of £25,800, raised by presentments on the city and county, and opened to the public on St. Patrick's day, 1816; it is built of Portland stone, with a balustrade of cast iron, and is 220 feet long and 52 feet wide, consisting of three fine arches, the keystones of which are ornamented with colossal heads, on the one side representing Peace, Hibernia, and Commerce; and on the other, Plenty, the river Liffey, and Industry.
Whitworth bridge supplies the place of the old bridge built by the Dominican friars, which had been for a long time the only communication between the city and its northern suburbs: the first stone was laid in 1816, by the Earl of Whitworth, then lord-lieutenant; it is an elegant structure of three arches, connecting Bridge-street with Church-street.
Queen's bridge, a smaller structure of three arches of hewn stone, connecting Bridgefoot-street with Queen-street, is only 140 feet in length: it was built in 1768, on the site of Arran bridge, which was destroyed by a flood in 1763.
Barrack bridge, formerly Bloody bridge, connecting Watling-street with the quay leading to the royal barracks, was originally constructed of wood, in 1671, and subsequently rebuilt, of stone.
King's bridge, of which the first stone was laid by the Marquess Wellesley in 1827, connects the military road with the south-eastern entrance to the Phoenix Park, affording to the lord-lieutenant a retired and pleasant avenue from the Castle to his country residence; it consists of a single arch of cast iron, 100 feet in span, resting on abutments of granite richly ornamented, and was completed at an expense of £13,000, raised for the purpose of erecting a national testimonial in commemoration of the visit of George IV. to Ireland, in 1821.
Sarah bridge, formerly Island bridge, but when rebuilt in its present form named after the Countess of Westmoreland, who laid the foundation stone in 1791, is a noble structure of a single arch, 104 feet in span, the keystone of which is 30 feet above low water mark: this bridge connects the suburban village of Island-Bridge with the north-western road and with one of the entrances to the Phoenix Park; from the peculiar elegance of its proportions, it has been distinguished by the name of the "Irish Rialto."