Sheep Bridge, Belfast Road, Carmeen, Newry, Co Down, BT34 1RU

Sheep Bridge carries the Belfast to Newry road over the Clanrye River. While the precise origins are uncertain, it is likely that the current bridge was built in the early 19th century, possibly between 1800 and 1819, and may represent a rebuilding of an earlier structure. It is plausible that an earlier bridge was shown on Moll’s 1714 and Harris’s 1743 maps of Ireland and described in the 1834 Ordnance Survey Memoir. The bridge is an important landmark that enhances the surrounding landscape.

The bridge is composed of three segmental arches, constructed of regularly coursed squared granite rubble, with random rubble parapets. It has triangular cutwaters on both sides, terminating at the level of the arch spring. The approach walls are slightly battered, and the bridge features dressed granite embellishments including abutments, voussoirs, platbands, and rounded parapet copings. Small projecting rectangular piers cap the parapet, with semicircular stones inscribed with a three-leaf design on the road-facing sides (on the west parapet) and on both faces (on the east parapet). The west parapet coping has shifted slightly outwards, and the capstone of the north-east pier is missing. The two side arches are normally dry. A narrow mill race runs through the ends of the southern approach. According to the 1834 Ordnance Survey Memoir, the middle arch measures 25 feet in span, the two side arches 22 feet, and the average rise is 47 feet above the spring, with piers 37.5 feet above ground; however, the height measurements in that document are believed to be inaccurate. The bridge possesses industrial archaeological interest and holds local historical significance.