Mahon Bridge (), also spelled Mahonbridge, is a village in the parish of

Kilrossanty Kilrossanty () is a small village and parish in County Waterford, Ireland. It lies between the Comeragh Mountains and the R676 road between Dungarvan and Carrick-on-Suir, close to the Mahon Falls. Amenities Local leisure facilities include ...

in mid

County Waterford County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region. It is named ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, located on the R676 road between

Carrick on Suir Carrick-on-Suir () is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It lies on both banks of the River Suir. The part on the north bank of the Suir lies in the civil parish of "Carrick", in the historical barony of Iffa and Offa East. The part on the sou ...

and

Dungarvan Dungarvan () is a coastal town and harbour in County Waterford, on the south-east coast of Ireland. Prior to the merger of Waterford County Council with Waterford City Council in 2014, Dungarvan was the county town and administrative centre of ...

. The nearest town is

Kilmacthomas Kilmacthomas or Kilmactomas (), often referred to locally as "Kilmac", is a town on the River Mahon in County Waterford, Ireland. It lies on the R677, a road north of the N25 national primary road from Dungarvan to Waterford. History During ...

Amenities

The village has a local shop, a garage and crash repair yard, and a historic creamery which is no longer in use.

Toponymy

Mahon Bridge is named for the bridge which crosses the

River Mahon River Mahon ( ga, an Mhachain) flows from the Comeragh Mountains in County Waterford, Ireland. Course Falling down the 80-metre Mahon Falls and proceeding past a hawthorn "Fairy Tree", identified by ribbons tied to its branches (the tree was c ...

at this point, the river running from the Mahon Falls in the

Comeragh Mountains The Comeragh Mountains () are a glaciated mountain range situated in southeast Ireland in County Waterford. They are located between the town of Dungarvan and stretch inland to the town of Clonmel on the County Tipperary border and the villages ...

to the sea at

Bunmahon Bunmahon (), also called Bonmahon, is a coastal village in County Waterford, Ireland, at the mouth of the River Mahon. During the 19th century, when copper mines operated in the area, Bonmahon was a mining village. As of the 21st century, the ...

. Mahon Bridge is well known to walkers and hill climbers who use the village as a jumping-off point for visits to the Falls.

Buildings

In 2009 a hydroelectric power station was completed just upriver from Mahon Bridge. The station is privately owned and is fed from two weirs, one on the Mahon and the other on the Mahon Og, about 2 km upstream of the village. The scheme generates a maximum of 850 kW of electricity to add to the national grid. The turbine house is of a very inconspicuous and low profile design being mostly located below ground level and not visible from the nearby road. The turbine house is located very close to a large ruined mill which was built in the famine years 1845–1848 but which saw little use as a corn mill before being sold. At some stage in the mid 20th century part of it was demolished by Waterford Co. Council and the stone used for road building.

Sport

Stage 2 of the 1998

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

passed through Mahon Bridge.

Location

The village is laid out around a triangular field, from which roads lead to

, Fews, Furraleigh, Briska and Lyre.

Archaeology

Archaeological sites 500 meters west of the village: * A castle owned by Darby O'Brien in 1641 and it was described as a large slate house with a

bawn A bawn is the defensive wall surrounding an Irish tower house. It is the anglicised version of the Irish word ''bábhún'' (sometimes spelt ''badhún''), possibly meaning "cattle-stronghold" or "cattle-enclosure".See alternative traditional spe ...

. It is said to have been occupied by a Peter Anthony in 1643 when it was burnt by a party of Royalists under Sir Charles Vavasour. Located in a private garden at the base of Crough Hill. It is not visible at ground level. * An

ogham Ogham (Modern Irish: ; mga, ogum, ogom, later mga, ogam, label=none ) is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the early Irish language (in the "orthodox" inscriptions, 4th to 6th centuries AD), and later the Old Irish langua ...

stone originally from the Knockalafalla-Rathgormuck area is now kept at Comeragh Lodge. * A Children's Burial Ground marked only on the 1926 ed. of the OS 6-inch map. * A

souterrain ''Souterrain'' (from French ''sous terrain'', meaning "under ground") is a name given by archaeologists to a type of underground structure associated mainly with the European Atlantic Iron Age. These structures appear to have been brought northw ...

South West of the Children's Burial Ground. An area of ground collapse in 2002 led to a stone-lined cavity, which could not be entered but which could be a beehive chamber of a souterrain.

References

{{County Waterford Towns and villages in County Waterford