Shaw's Bridge is the name given to two adjacent bridges across the

River Lagan The River Lagan (; Ulster Scots: ''Lagan Wattèr'') is a major river in Northern Ireland which runs 53.5 miles (86 km) from the Slieve Croob mountain in County Down to Belfast where it enters Belfast Lough, an inlet of the Irish Sea. The ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. The older of the bridges is a historic stone arched bridge, which is open to cyclists and pedestrians. The new bridge is a concrete bridge which carries the

A55 road The A55, also known as the North Wales Expressway ( cy, Gwibffordd Gogledd Cymru) is a major road in Wales and England, connecting Cheshire and north Wales. The vast majority of its length from Chester to Holyhead is a dual carriageway pri ...

Old bridge

The crossing is located at a shallow section of the Lagan, which had historically been used as a crossing point. The bridge is named after Captain John Shaw of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

's army, who built an oak bridge here in 1655, possibly replacing one from 1617. A stone bridge was built in 1691 by Thomas Burgh, although this was destroyed by floods, leading to its replacement with the current bridge in 1709. The bridge is composed of five stone arches: four across the river and one across the adjacent footpath. Its deck is only wide enough for one lane of traffic. Despite this, it was an important connection for many years, carrying the main road from Belfast to

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

and

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 ...

. The construction of the A55 road rendered the bridge obsolete, and in 1977 it was pedestrianised, along with its approach roads. It now forms part of the Lagan Valley Regional Park.

New bridge

In 1977, a section of the

was opened across the Lagan Valley. The road forms Belfast's outer-ring road, and crosses the Lagan on a specially constructed bridge, 20m downstream of the existing bridge. This bridge, also referred to as ''Shaw's Bridge'', is a concrete arch bridge which crosses the river and the footpaths on either side in one 70m span.

In popular culture

The old bridge is depicted in a painting by Belfast-born artist

John Luke John Luke may refer to: * John A. Luke Jr., chief executive officer of MeadWestvaco * John Luke (artist) (1906–1975), Irish artist * John Luke (New Zealand politician) (1858–1931), New Zealand politician * John Luke (MP) (1563–1638), English p ...

. In 2018, the bridge and adjacent boat house were both featured in BBC drama ''Come Home''.

References

Bridges completed in 1707 Bridges in Northern Ireland Buildings and structures in Belfast 1707 establishments in Ireland {{NorthernIreland-bridge-struct-stub