The Farmleigh Bridge ( ga, Droichead Farmleigh), also known as the Silver Bridge, Guinness Bridge or Strawberry Beds Bridge, is a disused bridge spanning the

River Liffey The River Liffey (Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the River ...

and the Lower Lucan Road in the

Strawberry Beds Strawberry Beds or The Strawberry Beds () is a locality and small settlement 7 km to the west of Dublin City, Ireland, located on the northern banks of the River Liffey between Chapelizod and Lucan where the closest bridges span the river ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland. Farmleigh Bridge is a single-span

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

box truss A box truss is a structure composed of three or more ''chords'' connected by transverse and/or diagonal structural elements. Application Box trusses are commonly used in certain types of aircraft fuselages, electric power pylons, large radio ant ...

bridge. It is about long and is supported by two stone and masonry supports faced with cut limestone blocks, and embellished with buttresses and round-headed arches. In an 1836

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

map of the Strawberry Beds area, two ferries are depicted as operating on the Liffey. One was situated at the bottom of Knockmaroon Hill and the other was a half-mile upstream where the current Farmleigh Bridge now stands. It is suspected that the ferry at this site was a private operation for the Guinness family as they owned land on the south bank of the river. It is understood the iron bridge eventually replaced the ferry and was probably built by the engineering department of the

Guinness Brewery St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is ...

. It was built in the 1870s to carry water pipes and electricity lines from the

mill race A mill race, millrace or millrun, mill lade (Scotland) or mill leat (Southwest England) is the current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel ( sluice) conducting water to or from a water wheel. Compared with the broad waters of a mi ...

turbine to the nearby

Farmleigh Farmleigh is the official Irish state guest house. It was formerly one of the Dublin residences of the Guinness family. It is situated on an elevated position above the River Liffey to the north-west of the Phoenix Park, in Castleknock. The ...

House and the clock tower (which housed a large water tank), by Edward Cecil Guinness who had bought the estate in 1872. There were ornate gates at either end of the bridge and a tunnel entrance where it ended abruptly in the side of a hill. The pipes and cables were covered by a deck for pedestrian use. Privately built by the

Guinness family The Guinness family is an extensive Irish family known for its accomplishments in brewing, banking, politics, and religious ministry. The brewing branch is particularly well known among the general public for producing the dry stout Guinnes ...

, it was also used by staff who lived on the south side of the river (by

Palmerstown Palmerstown (; officially Palmerston, see spelling) is a civil parish and suburb in western Dublin on the banks of the River Liffey. It forms part of the South Dublin local authority and the Dublin Mid-West parliamentary constituency. The area ...

) as a short-cut to the grand house. The bridge (near the Angler's Rest pub) is long disused, with no remaining base or platform to carry traffic. Though the elaborate stone gateway remains, the tunnel is no longer accessible and has been collapsed. As of late 2015, campaigners had initiated a petition for the bridge to be restored and used as part of a Liffey greenway plan. However, as of mid-2016, no funding had been allocated by

Fingal County Council Fingal County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Fhine Gall) is the authority responsible for local government in the county of Fingal, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that comprised the former Dublin County Council before its abolit ...

to renovation of the bridge. In 2021 it was featured in the

RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís � ...

television series .

Sources

References

{{Dublin Liffey Bridges Buildings and structures in Fingal Bridges in County Dublin