Garfinny Bridge

Garfinny Bridge is a medieval stone bridge located in County Kerry, Ireland.^[1][2] The bridge was designated as an Irish National Monument.

Garfinny Bridge Droichead na Gairfeanaí
Coordinates	52.149939°N 10.227143°W / 52.149939; -10.227143
Carries	local road
Crosses	Garfinny River
Locale	Garfinny, Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry
Followed by	N86 bridge
Characteristics
Design	Arch bridge
Material	Stone
Total length	16 metres (52 ft)
Width	2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in)
Height	3 metres (9.8 ft)
No. of spans	1
Design life	500+ years
History
Construction start	c. 1400
National monument of Ireland
Official name	Garfinny Bridge
Reference no.	612
Location

Location

Garfinny Bridge crosses the Garfinny River on the Dingle Peninsula, 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi) east-northeast of Dingle.

History

The bridge is believed to have been built in the 14th or 15th centuries, and was supposedly crossed by Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton (Lord Deputy of Ireland) in 1580 with his men on the way to the Siege of Smerwick, where they killed hundreds of prisoners.

By the 19th century, the bridge had begun to collapse and people forded it nearby. Nowadays, road traffic crosses over a modern bridge to the north.^[3]

Description

Garfinny Bridge is a dry stone bridge made without mortar: the arch consists of radial stones which ‘spring’ from stones projecting over the river in a corbelling technique.^[4][5][6]

It is the only bridge to be an Irish National Monument.^[7]

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