Review – Irish Stone Bridges: History and Heritage

1 min read
Peter O’Keeffe and Tom Simington, revised by Rob Goodbody
Irish Academic Press, £35.00
ISBN 978-1911024149
Review Deirdre Forde

This is the much anticipated revised edition of O’Keeffe and Simington’s comprehensive work covering the history of stone bridges between AD 1000 and 1830. It continues to stand out as the exemplary guide to these important features of the Irish landscape. Despite the exhaustive research on behalf of the original authors, leaving no stone unturned in their search for detailed primary material to add to the text, it remains a highly readable book.

Rob Goodbody’s revision sees the addition of superb colour photography, and an updating of the original text only where necessary for ease of description for modern readers. New additions to the study include more railway and canal bridges, which fit comfortably among the first-edition examples of road bridges. Part one deals with the historic context of bridge-building in Ireland, and part two is a gazetteer describing many fine examples of stone bridges throughout the country. The technical aspect of the study, as well as the extensive historic research, means that this book will appeal to engineers, architects, and historians alike.

This review appeared in CA 333.

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