Foley's Bridge, Tollymore Park, Newcastle, Co Down

Foley's Bridge is a small, hump-backed, rubble-built, semi-ornamental footbridge of 1787, spanning the Shimna River as it flows through Tollymore Park. It sits slightly to the north-east of the centre of the park. The bridge has a semi-circular arch with roughly dressed voussoirs and protruding 'bap' stones above. The parapets rise towards the centre, where on each side there is a relatively large rounded fieldstone: one is inscribed 'H : Foley' and the other '1787'.

The bridge was constructed by James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Clanbrassil, in 1787. Its design, like that of many other buildings erected by the Earl around this period, may have been influenced by the work of the English architect Thomas Wright of Durham. The inscription 'H : Foley' is thought to refer to the Earl's marriage to Grace Foley — 'H' standing for Hamilton — which had taken place in 1774.

The bridge sits within the wider designed landscape of Tollymore Park, whose history stretches back to the late medieval period, when the surrounding townlands were under the lordship of the Magennis family of Upper Iveagh. In 1611, Brian MacHugh Magennis received royal confirmation of his ownership of the area through a grant of seven and a half townlands from King James I. The estate remained in the Magennis male line until around 1685, when Bernard Magennis died without children and the property passed to his sister Ellen, who was married to William Hamilton. On Ellen's death, the estate passed to their son James, and his son — also named James, who inherited in 1701 — was created Viscount Limerick in 1719 and Earl of Clanbrassil (of the second creation) in 1728.

This first James, widely remembered by his earlier title of Lord Limerick, began transforming Tollymore into a naturalistic landscape demesne around 1720. He enclosed much of the land to form a deer park, undertook large-scale tree planting, built a hunting lodge and the 'Old Bridge', and rebuilt the parish church at Bryansford — the small estate village to the north of the park, named after his ancestor Brian Magennis. Around 1750 he began construction of a larger house, probably drawing on advice from his friend Thomas Wright, who had visited Ireland in 1746–47 and stayed at Tollymore Park in September 1746. Dr Pococke, writing in his Tour of Ireland of 1752, noted that Lord Limerick had completed two rooms of his new 'pretty lodge' and had built 'a thatch'd open place to dine in' on the south side of the Shimna River. Just to the north of the house, the 'Clanbrassil' Barn was added in 1757, with the Horn Bridge built to the south around the same time. Lord Limerick died in 1758 and was succeeded by his son, also named James, who extended the new house and continued the planting programme begun by his father.

In the 1780s, this second James erected the Barbican gate at the eastern entrance to the park, the gothick gate at the Bryansford entrance, a hermitage, gothick follies and steward's lodge on the Hilltown Road, and a number of bridges within the park, including Ivy Bridge, Parnell's Bridge, and Foley's Bridge, the last named after his wife Grace Foley. These additions, which also appear to have been influenced by Thomas Wright, together with the planting, made Tollymore one of the most attractive estates in Ireland. Bernard Scalé's map of Tollymore of 1777 gives an indication of the picturesque appearance of the park during this period, showing a rolling landscape with extensive planting, meadows, rivers, streams, and woodland walks. An advertisement in the Belfast News-Letter of 26 April 1785 offering lodgings in Bryansford made much of the 'most pleasing prospect of the Right Hon. Earl of Clanbrassil's much admired demesne, which is beautiful to the sight and extensive to the bounds', and praised its wholesome air and herbage on which goats fed, noting that it was 'much frequented by ladies and gentlemen for the recovery of lost health'.

James, 2nd Viscount Limerick and 2nd Earl of Clanbrassil, died without issue in 1798, and the park passed to his sister Anne, wife of Robert Jocelyn, 1st Earl of Roden. Their son Robert, 2nd Earl of Roden, inherited the estate in 1802 and built the Bryansford and Barbican gate lodges (the latter now demolished). He also erected an obelisk monument to the east of the house, in memory of his second son James, who died prematurely in 1812. The 2nd Earl and his successor Robert, 3rd Earl of Roden, further developed Bryansford itself, making it 'a pleasing place of residence for those persons that like a quiet retreat'. A Roman Catholic church was built at the eastern edge of the village in 1820, school houses in 1823 and 1826, and labourers' dwellings and the large dower house known as 'The Nest' were added around the same time. The 3rd Earl also constructed a water-powered saw mill within the demesne and, in 1865, added another small lodge to the east. He enlarged Tollymore House by adding an additional storey to the wings and a tall, somewhat incongruous, French château-style roof to the original central block.

Tollymore Park remained in the hands of the Roden family until 1930, when the 8th Earl sold two-thirds of the land to the Ministry of Agriculture for afforestation purposes. The remaining third was purchased by the Ministry in 1940, and during the Second World War Tollymore House and part of the grounds were used by the Army. After the war the house fell into disrepair and was demolished by Lord Roden in 1952. In 1955 Tollymore became the first state forest in Northern Ireland to be designated a Forest Park and was opened to the public. It has continued to be developed for timber production, recreation, conservation and education purposes since that time. Although the house itself has gone, most of the park's 18th and early 19th century gates, bridges and lodges have survived.