Farmleigh Bridge

Farmleigh Bridge is a single-span cast iron box truss bridge.^[1][2] It is about 52 m (170 ft) long and is supported by two stone and masonry supports faced with cut limestone blocks, and embellished with buttresses and round-headed arches.

In an 1836 Ordnance Survey map of the Strawberry Beds area, two ferries are depicted as operating on the Liffey.^[3] One was situated at the bottom of Knockmaroon Hill and the other was a half-mile upstream where the current Farmleigh Bridge now stands. It is suspected that the ferry at this site was a private operation for the Guinness family as they owned land on the south bank of the river.^[3] It is understood the iron bridge eventually replaced the ferry and was probably built by the engineering department of the Guinness Brewery. It was built in the 1870s to carry water pipes and electricity lines from the mill race turbine to the nearby Farmleigh House and the clock tower (which housed a large water tank), by Edward Cecil Guinness who had bought the estate in 1872. There were ornate gates at either end of the bridge and a tunnel entrance where it ended abruptly on the side of a hill. The pipes and cables were covered by a deck for pedestrian use.^[4] Privately built by the Guinness family, it was also used by staff who lived on the south side of the river (by Palmerstown) as a short-cut to the grand house.^[5]