Thursday Doors – A Very Old Bridge

This week on Thursday Doors I thought we might look at some of the heritage buildings and one very old bridge in the centre of Trim, County Meath. This first one is the courthouse and was built about 1810 to the design of Richard Morrison. Grand Juries commissioned courthouses in various towns and cities of Ireland between the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Designed by Richard Morrison, the size and quality of this courthouse makes it one of the the town’s most impressive public buildings. It sits on a juncion of three streets, so you can’t miss it.

Next we have a bank that dates from 1910 and was designed by L. A. O’Donnell. Unlike most of the other buildings of the town, which tend to be limestone or rendered, this one is redbrick and really stands out from the rest with its warm tones.

Before we cross this bridge, let’s have a look at its history. A wooden bridge stood here until it was swept away by floods in 1330. This more solid one was built in its place using local stone. It has had only minor changes in its lifetime and claims to be Ireland’s oldest bridge that has been unaltered and in continuous use for almost 700 years.

There’s another bridge in the distance but we’ll cross that when we come to it in a week or so.

The walk on this side of the river gives the best aspect of the bridge. I think it’s doing remarkably well considering the weight of modern day traffic. Thanks so much for stopping by this week and crossing a very old bridge with me, there are lots more Thursday Doors posts waiting for you over on Dan’s blog.