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History and Historical Sites

The Two Bridges

The two bridges, on either side of the Cathedral, are known locally as the Upper and Lower Bridges. The Upper Bridge was built in 1836 by Thomas Ham and cost £3,000.00. The Ham family arrived from England in 1805 and set up several enterprises in the town.

By 1811 they had all departed apart from Thomas who remained and continued several of the businesses set up by his father. Thomas built the Upper Bridge to replace the forty-arches structure that had been built in 1745. The cut-stone resembles that used to build the nearby St. Muredach's Cathedral, probably from the same source, Moyne Quarry.

The Lower bridge was completed one year earlier, in 1835 by Armstrong and West. This was the second bridge to be built over the River Moy with the old wooden structure still in place one furlong further upstream. Ham was already planning his new bridge to replace this wooden structure.