Crown Bridge, Sheeptown Road, Donaghmore, Newry, Co Down, BT34 2LD

The Crown Bridge, located on Sheeptown Road, Donaghmore, carries a single-and-a-half lane carriageway over the Clanrye River and its floodplain. While the style of the three eastern arches suggests a construction date between the 17th and early 18th centuries, the fourth span shows evidence of an early 19th-century rebuild, indicated by its regular coursing and dressed voussoirs. The bridge comprises four hump-backed arches connected by a rubble stone walled causeway; only the westernmost arch now spans water, the others serving as flood arches. The eastern three arches are constructed of random rubble, while the westernmost arch is of regularly-coursed squared granite, featuring finely dressed granite voussoirs with raised keystones, demonstrating a degree of adornment. The upstream abutment on the left bank is slightly splayed, and the parapets are coped with rock-faced and squared granite blocks.

Historically, until the 1810s, the bridge formed part of the main route between Newry and Rathfriland. It is named on Moll’s 1714 map of Ireland and Harris’s 1743 map of County Down. The bridge is of interest for its contrasting construction styles, which illustrate the gradual evolution of bridge design between the 1600s and early 1800s, as well as its early date and high landscape value. The bridge is considered to have local historical interest and is of industrial archaeological interest.