Bridge over rail line in Corbally

HattieMcDoogal

A couple of weeks ago I was walking my dog down Lower Park Road when he stopped to sniff something just before the level crossing. I (having a few seconds to spare ) had a look up and down the railway line. As I was looking up towards (what I thought was) the bridge on the Corbally Road I noticed a car drive over another bridge behind it so I obviously this first bridge wasn't the one on the Corbally Road. When I eventually got round to the Corbally Road side I discovered there was indeed a bridge between the Corbally Road one and the level crossing on Lower Park Road. I was actually quite stunned, I had never noticed it before in all the years I've been walking over the bridge on the Corbally Road. I mean I probably never looked up the railway line for more than a second before but you know wow.

Does anybody on boards know anything about this bridge?

I found this article on Google but the location of the bridge mentioned on the last page puts it at the wrong side of the bridge on the Corbally Road.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:u7-vGBqTYuwJ:www.limerick.ie/media/Media,4042,en.pdf+land+bridge+corbally&hl=en&gl=ie&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiyXWMmsqg8343khHe4lY5CK_JaKNYMZu_NyBr_5XQ0JtGngijrVTO4Tcl6V60cLZZ-NIO0FPwHY5qhk9C84RGZt2vGQQieROJ9LSkhMcbun6XIfct0XMdnYxi74hNirL4uzOPP&sig=AHIEtbRMhAiaLZzOA2-aHjlDpqfKaQsUMA


From the last page of the article: "O'Driscoll's well known hostelry was in the possession of a ropemaker during the building of the Limerick/Ennis rail-way in 1859. Since the railway line could not be diverted from intersecting the rope-walk, a small bridge was erected over the permanent way so that the craftsman could continue with his industry. This bridge can be seen at the end of Mr. O'Driscoll's car park."

Edited to add: Figured out how to make a link on Google Maps. http://g.co/maps/wpt32

Poxyshamrock

Appears to be no through road but just an extension of someone's garden?

HattieMcDoogal

"Appears to be no through road but just an extension of someone's garden?"

No, I don't think so. It seems to predate the houses on either side of the rail line by a long time. My Dad reckons maybe the surrounding land was owned by one owner when the rail line was built in the 19th century and the bridge was for access to the land on the other side.

europa11

We have a reprint of an old (1900) OS map of the city here at work and it shows that crossing.

There's a pathway from a building on the Old Park Rd. that winds towards the bridge which then leads to open fields - the marked pathway stops abruptly after the crossing so maybe it was used primarily for farm animals/access to fields. The Corbally area is barely populated at the time - only three large houses "Janemount" which is nearest the crossing you saw, further down Old Park Road are "Park View" and "Park House" are evident. There are other houses further east - smaller, mainly single buildings along the current Lower Park Road.

btw, the map was re-printed by a company called Phoenix Maps, Navan Road, Dublin in 1989 (sorry I can't take a scan of it here, it's A0 size ).

HattieMcDoogal

europa11 wrote: »

We have a reprint of an old (1900) OS map of the city here at work and it shows that crossing.

Thanks a million for that info. It's been a real head scratcher. I'll have to see if I can get a copy of that map. Would look great on my wall :-)

HattieMcDoogal

Found the map on the OSI website. Pretty cool! Thanks again europa11! It also seems to show that bridge at the end of O'Driscolls carpark, the one that's mentioned in the article.

Map: http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,558542,658280,7,9

europa11

HattieMcDoogal wrote: »

Found the map on the OSI website. Pretty cool! Thanks again europa11! It also seems to show that bridge at the end of O'Driscolls carpark, the one that's mentioned in the article.

Map: http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,558542,658280,7,9[/QUOTE]

Fantastic site there Hattie, may I reciprocate those thanks!

Seems there were two bridges over the railway at Old Park Rd. (A0 map didn't stetch that far) but the online map is superb, am also tracing the river up to Lough Derg to work out the changes brought about by the construction of the Shannon Scheme.

Will be checking out the other maps of the city also. Love this kind of thing, OSI have certainly done a great job on this wonderful archive material there.

Again. Many thanks.

HattieMcDoogal

europa11 wrote: »

Will be checking out the other maps of the city also. Love this kind of thing, OSI have certainly done a great job on this wonderful archive material there.

I've been glued to it for the past hour. My mother has been looking for ages for info on the lane my grandfather was born in off John Street. Couldn't find it on any maps before but I think I see it on this OSI map

Poxyshamrock

HattieMcDoogal wrote: »

"Appears to be no through road but just an extension of someone's garden?"

No, I don't think so. It seems to predate the houses on either side of the rail line by a long time. My Dad reckons maybe the surrounding land was owned by one owner when the rail line was built in the 19th century and the bridge was for access to the land on the other side.

Oh I agree that it must have been used at one stage but presently I don't see how a car could have been on it. It appears to just have grass on it.

Berty

May have originally been a farmers overbridge like the footbridge by Driscolls bar. Same with Motorways these days - if you cut through farmers property they must be given an underpass,culvert or overbridge to access their property.

SupraSonic_26

Interesting map or corbally i used to live down mill road its strange see that mill was down there and few villas ha.

rainbowdash

Thats an interesting map for sure. There was a "constabulary barracks" at Caherdavin, where Ivans shop is now even though there was very few houses there at all!

Bicycle

Up to the mid 1980s or so there used to be a thatched cottage on Old Park Road where the two story houses are that back onto the railway. The farmers - Jacko and Jimmy - had land on both sides of the railway. They used the bridge to go through the land.

The land was gradually sold and now the area, as you can see, is very built up.

RevRed

Hi,
According to a 2009 issue of The Old Limerick Junction, in an article called The Corbally District, the bridge was said to have been built for a ropemaker whose operation was going to be cut in two by the railway. This allowed him to continue to operate.
The article may be accessed via Limerick City Council and possibly via a search on Google.

RevRed