Ardstraw Bridge, Ardstraw, Co. Tyrone, BT82 9LP

Ardstraw Bridge is a six-span rubble stone road bridge spanning the River Derg in the centre of Ardstraw village, built around 1727. The bridge carries the Carnkenny Road across the river on a north-south axis, continuing as the Tievenny Road, and is recognised as the oldest standing structure in the village and a significant element of national civil engineering importance.

The bridge displays all the characteristics of an early eighteenth-century packhorse bridge, notably its distinctive humpback profile, narrow carriageway, and angular cutwaters. Six semi-circular arches of varying sizes are formed in voussoired rubble stone with cement-rendered soffits. V-shaped cutwaters in rubble stone with splayed tops sit below parapet level. The three northern cutwaters have shuttered concrete footings set in the river bed, whilst the two southern cutwaters are set in a bed of concrete with a rebuilt cutwater constructed in squared stone that is larger than the remainder. The rubble stone spandrels rise to parapet level and feature some cast-iron patress plates, topped with rough-hewn stone coping. A single bitumac carriageway is enclosed by a tall parapet wall to which four modern iron street lamps are attached.

Late twentieth-century concrete reinforcements to the base of the cutwaters detract from the material and aesthetic integrity of the bridge.

A bridge has existed at Ardstraw since at least the sixteenth century. The Annals of the Four Masters record that in 1514, the chiefs O'Donnell and O'Neill met on the bridge of Ardstraw to make peace. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs describe the bridge as "an old structure of unhewn stone, with 6 arches, total length 270 feet, breadth 12 and a half feet, kept in repair at the expense of the county". The memoirs also mention an "Ardstraw new bridge" from 1814, situated two and a half miles away. In 1808, the Marquis of Abercorn's agent expressed concern about the bridge's condition and suggested an advance of £100 to £150 would allow a mason to rebuild it. The main arches have a span of approximately 12 feet, with piers 5 feet wide. One bank features a wider buttressed pier followed by a further arch providing flood relief.