For many years I have walked over a bridge, without knowing I was on a bridge. The small red brick Donnycarney Bridge, which was built in 1896 and stands just beyond the Collins Avenue and Malahide Road junction, replaced an ancient stone structure called Scurlogue’s Bridge.
Luke Kelly Bridge (formerly Ballybough Bridge) may have been the site of the Battle of Clontarf.
Derry City has an historical legacy which is at the forefront of its tourism and also its image. These two elements crystallise around the Siege of Derry in 1689 and also the Civil Right’s movement of the 1960’s and the violence which came after. Memorials are not so good at keeping a low profile at a time of high emotions. But some memorials are more embraced than others.
In 2019 Shane Lowry from Clara in County Offaly won the British Golf Open and underlined his international sporting superstar status. But Lowry was not the first bearded superstar from Offaly. Bindon Blood Stoney was born in County Offaly in 1828 and he would go on to be an engineering heavyweight – though without getting the same acclaim as Lowry.
Annesley Bridge is further away from the sea than when it was first built in 1797. There was a time you could stand on the bridge, and easily see Clontarf Island only a few hundreds metres away. But now Clontarf Island is no longer visible, because it is not there at all!