THE IRISH PENNY JOURNAL.
| Number 34. | SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1841. | Volume I. |
BARRACK BRIDGE AND THE MILITARY GATE, DUBLIN.
Though our own good metropolis is confessedly one of themost ancient cities in the empire, yet there are few towns ofany importance either in England, Scotland, or Ireland, thathave so little appearance of old age; we have indeed a coupleof venerable cathedrals, which is more, we believe, than anyother city in her Majesty’s dominions, except London, canboast of; and we have a few insignificant remains of monasticedifices, but hid in obscure situations, where they are onlyknown to zealous antiquaries:—with the exception of these,however, we have nothing that has not a modern look, thoughtoo often a tattered one; nor is there, we believe, a single housewithin our Circular Road that has seen two hundred years.Our bridges and other public edifices in like manner are allmodern—specimens of mushroom architectural aristocracy—verydignified and imposing, no doubt, in their aspect, but withoutany hallowing associations connected with remote timesto make us respect them.
It is owing, perhaps, to these circumstances that we havealways had a pleasure in seeing the old-looking bridge andgateway which form the subject of our prefixed illustration—wesay old-looking, for in reality neither is very old: but theyhave an antique appearance about them which preventsus from thinking our city a mere creation of yesterday.They are very picturesque also, and contrast well with theother bridge scenes along our quays, which, though moresplendid and architectural, are as yet too new-looking andcommonplace.
Though Barrack Bridge, or, as it is more popularly called,Bloody Bridge, is now the oldest of the eight bridges whichspan the Liffey within our city, its antiquity is no earlier thanthe close of the seventeenth century: and yet this very bridgeis the second structure of the kind erected in Dublin, as previouslyto its construction there was but one bridge—theBridge, as it was called, connecting Bridge-street with Church-street—acrossthe Liffey. And this fact is alone sufficient toprove the advance in prosperity and the arts of civilised lifewhich Dublin has made within a period of little more than acentury.
Barrack Bridge was originally constructed of wood, andwas erected in 1670; and its popular name of Bloody Bridge[Pg 266]was derived, as Harris the historian states, from the followingcircumstance, which occurred in the year after. The apprenticesof Dublin having assembled themselves riotously togetherwith an intention to break down the bridge, it became necessaryto call out the military to defeat their object, whentwenty of the rioters were seized, and committed to theCastle. It happened, however, afterwards, that as a guardof soldiers were conveying these young men to the Bridewell,they were rescued by their fellows, and in the fray four ofthem were slain; “from which accident it took the name ofBloody Bridge.” In a short time afterwards, this woodenstructure gave place to the stone bridge we now see, which isof unadorned character, and consists of four semicirculararches. Its rude and antique appearance, however, harmonizeswell with the military gateway placed at its south-westernextremity, on the road leading to the Royal Hospitalat Kilma