Bridge at 20 Martin’s Rd, Newry, Co Down

This bridge, built in 1851, carries a single-track accommodation road over the double track of the main Belfast–Dublin railway line, situated within a deep rock cutting. Constructed by William Dargan for the Dublin & Belfast Junction Railway Company (D&BJ) to a design by its chief engineer, Sir John Macneill, the bridge was completed in 1852 alongside the Craigmore Viaduct. The D&BJ subsequently amalgamated with the Dublin & Drogheda Railway Co in 1875, and became part of the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) in 1876. The bridge is of rock-faced granodiorite throughout, with the soffit and abutments finished in ashlar and the spandrels and parapets in squared rubble. It features a single semi-elliptical arch with rusticated voussoirs and parapet copings as its only embellishment. While of some historical and architectural interest, the bridge is relatively plain and smaller in scale compared to other bridges along the railway line. It is considered to be of industrial archaeological interest.