County: Dublin Site name: LUCAN: King John's Bridge
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E1018
Author: John Kavanagh, Judith Carroll Ltd.
Site type: Bridge
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 703912m, N 734310m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.348792, -6.439305
The River Griffeen Flood Alleviation Scheme was designed to provide flood protection, particularly in Lucan village. This will involve works along the length of the River Griffeen, beginning at its confluence with the River Liffey and ending just south of King John’s Bridge (SMR 17:78).
King John’s Bridge, which crosses the River Griffeen to the south of the village, is thought to date from the late 12th or early 13th centuries. The bridge originally had three spans but only a single arch and two piers remain. A segment of the third arch protrudes from the north-east corner. The span of the central arch is 8ft clear; the other two are thought to have been of similar dimensions. The width of the pier and the arch is 9ft and the thickness of the pier is 5ft. Upstream the cutwaters are triangular, while downstream they are notably absent. The ring stones in the arch, which are made from roughly shaped local calp limestone blocks, form one segment of a circle. The joints between them are nearly all radial and rest on roughly shaped solid skewbacks. The pier is made from coursed stone masonry of good quality. Both the interior and exterior mortar are of good quality. However, the exterior may have been repointed over time. The wedge-shaped keystone appears to have been slightly too large to fit perfectly. The masonry in general is of a high standard. A large tree to the north-east has caused serious damage to the structure of the bridge and it is in danger of collapse. This bridge probably fell into disuse some time between 1773 and 1837, when the Esker Bridge was built and the road realigned.
To ascertain the nature and extent of any archaeological remains within the vicinity of King John’s Bridge, test excavation was commenced on 11 March 2003.
The excavation uncovered the poorly preserved remains of a cut-limestone wall beneath 0.55m of subsoil. The wall was aligned north-west/south-east and followed the course of the Griffeen. It had a width of 0.45m and an average height of 0.25–0.45m. The wall consisted of cut limestone bonded together with a white gritty mortar. Only the very fragmentary remains of the lowest course survived, resting on a limestone footing.
It is reasonable to suggest that the limestone wall which follows the course of the river is related to either Esker House, just to the north of King John’s Bridge, or Esker Villa, to the south, as depicted on the first-edition OS map of 1836.
13 Anglesea Street, Dublin
