Few, if any, bridges formed of stone appear to have been erected in Ireland previous to the Anglo-Norman invasion; but the new settlers and their descendants constructed many, several of which remained down to a comparatively late period. Of these, perhaps old Thomond Bridge, which spanned the Shannon at Limerick, was the most remarkable. Low, flat, and narrow in its proportions, defended at one end by a tower and gateway, and exhibiting in its fifteen arches a variety of forms, chiefly Pointed, it constituted, with the castle, and the venerable tower of St. Mary’s Abbey in the background, one of a group of mediæval structures as imposing as they were picturesque. The bridge was, in all probability, coeval with King John’s Castle immediately adjoining. Having at length, in part, become ruinous, it was, in the past century, pulled down, and a structure more in accordance with the requirements of the nineteenth century occupies its historic site. The Shannon, almost in our own time, was crossed by other bridges of considerable antiquity. That at Athlone was one of the most interesting and picturesque features of the old town. In its abutments were recesses intended for the refuge of foot-passengers whenever any vehicle was passing--a precaution rendered absolutely necessary by the narrow proportions of the ancient roadway. Near the centre, on the northern side, might be seen a very remarkable sculptured and inscribed monument; the stones which composed it were placed in the collection of the Royal Irish Academy. At Newbridge, two miles from Leixlip, and crossing the Liffey, is perhaps the oldest bridge now remaining in Ireland. This ancient structure, which still remains apparently as strong as when it was built, was, according to _Pembridge’s Annals_, as published by Camden, erected in 1308, by John le Decer, Mayor of Dublin in that year. It is in every respect an interesting work of its kind, and promises, unless taken in hand by some ‘restorer,’ to stand the storms and floods of another five hundred years. Some sixty years ago it was sentenced to destruction as useless, and only escaped demolition through the influence of the then proprietor of St. Woolstan’s, Richard Cane, who, in a spirit worthy of all commendation, declared that he would rather bear the cost of a new bridge than see one stone of John le Decer’s work removed. FOOTNOTES [1] Camden’s _Hibernia_, p. 67. [2] _Journal_ R. S. A. I., 1876–8, p. 294. [3] _Ibid._, 1887–8, p. 432. [4] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland_, p. 107. [5] _Pagan Ireland_, p. 308. [6] _Asiatic Researches_, vol. vi., p. 502. [7] _Journal_ Roy. Soc. of Antiq. Ir., 1888, p. 470. [8] _Pagan Ireland_, p. 308. [9] _Journal_ Roy. Soc. of Antiq. Ir., 1892, p. 68. [10] _Annual Volume_ Roy. Soc. of Antiq. Ir., 1892. [11] _Transactions_ (_Antiquities_), Roy. Ir. Acad., vol. xxiv., p. 421. [12] _Journal_ Roy. Soc. of Antiq. Ir., 1868, p. 91. [13] _Ibid._, 1864–6, pp. 357, 497.