O'Brien's Bridge or O'Briensbridge () is a village in east

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

, Ireland, on the west bank of the

River Shannon The River Shannon ( or archaic ') is the major river on the island of Ireland, and at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of I ...

, in a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of the same name. It is named for the bridge across the Shannon at that point, built by

Turlough O'Brien Turlough O'Brien is a Gaelic football manager. He managed Carlow between 2014 and 2020. In the 2018 National Football League, O'Brien led the team out of Division 4. This was their first promotion in more than three decades. In the 2018 Lein ...

in 1506.

Location

The village is 13 km northeast of

Limerick city Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

. Facing it, on the other side of the river, at the eastern end of the bridge, is the

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

village of Montpelier. The two villages are treated as one urban area,

O'Briensbridge-Montpelier O'Briensbridge–Montpelier is an urban area (Ireland), urban area in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, comprising the villages of O'Briensbridge in County Clare and Montpelier, County Limerick, Montpelier in County Limerick which face each other a ...

, for census purposes. The parish of O'Briensbridge, which includes the village of O'Brien's Bridge, is in the barony of

Tulla Lower Tulla Lower (or Tullagh Lower) is a barony in County Clare, Ireland. This ancient geographical division of land is in turn divided into eight civil parishes. Legal context Baronies were created after the Norman invasion of Ireland as divisions ...

. (The village was formerly part of the parish of Killaloe.) It is and covers , including a detached district to the southwest. The parish is bounded on the east by the

. The narrow northern section is mountainous, rising to , and the western part of the parish is also upland. There were two castles in the parish. The one at the village of O'Brien's Bridge was inhabited by Murtagh O'Brien, Baron of Inchiquin, in 1580. It is now entirely gone. The other, Aherinagh, was still reasonably well preserved at the end of the 19th century. In 1580, it belonged to Donogh, son of Conor MacNamara.

History

The first bridge across the river here was built in 1506 by

, first

Earl of Thomond Earl of Thomond was an hereditary title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created twice for the O'Brien dynasty which is an ancient Irish sept native to north Munster. History and background First creation Under the Crown of Ireland Act 1542, K ...

and his brother, the

Bishop of Killaloe The Bishop of Killaloe ( ) is an episcopal title which takes its name after the town of Killaloe in County Clare, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bis ...

. This first bridge was made of wood and was burned in 1510 by

Gearóid Mór FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare (born – ), known variously as "Garret the Great" (Gearóid Mór) or "The Great Earl" (An tIarla Mór), was Ireland's premier peer. He served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1477 to 1494, and from 1496 un ...

. The O'Briens rebuilt the bridge, this time erecting two castles, each with walls thick, one on each side of the river. The castles stood in the water close to the shore and were connected by a 7-arch wooden bridge that rose to above the water. This bridge was destroyed in 1537 by Leonard Grey, the Lord Deputy of Ireland under King

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

, after an extended battle against the O'Briens, who had rebelled. A 12-arch stone bridge was built next. It was replaced around 1750, partially replaced in 1842, and modified to include a navigation arch in the 1920s. The ancient river-crossing here is believed to be identical with ''Áth Caille'' (meaning "Ford of the Wood"): one of the three fords mentioned in the ''

Triads of Ireland The title ''Trecheng Breth Féne'' "A Triad of Judgments of the Irish", more widely known as "The Triads of Ireland", refers to a miscellaneous collection of about 256 Old Irish triads (and some numerical variants) on a variety of topics, such as ...

'', the others being ''Áth Clíath'' (Dublin) and ''Áth Lúain'' (Athlone).

Sports

The local soccer club is Bridge Celtic AFC, which was formed in 1963 and currently plays in the Clare Soccer League. The club won the Clare Premier title in 2006/07, for the first time in 28 years.

Townlands

The parish contains the

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

s of Aharinaghmore, Ardataggle, Ballybrack, Ballycar North, Ballycar South, Ballyknavin, Cappakea, Carrownagowan, Cloghera, Clonboy, Coolnalira, Coumbrack, Earlhill, Fahy Beg, Fahy More North, Fahy More South, Glenlon North, Glenlon South, Kilcredaun, Kilroughil, Knockaderreen, Knockdonagh, Lackareagh Beg, Lackareagh More, Magherareagh, O'Briensbridge, Ross, Roo East, Roo West and Trough.

References

Citations Sources * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:O'Brien's Bridge Towns and villages in County Clare River Shannon Civil parishes of County Clare

Location

History

Sports

Townlands

See also

References