Bridges of Dublin
The remarkable story of Dublin's Liffey bridges
Annette Black & Michael B. Barry
‘Excellent illustrations accompany the fascinatingly informative text’, Irish Times (May 2017).
‘The book covers 24 structures in detail, every span across the Liffey from Lucan Bridge to the sea. Each bridge is documented with a large 2-page photo (generally of excellent quality), often an aerial image, a location map and a range of other images including drawings, historical paintings and etchings, and old photography. More recent structures are often accompanied by photographs taken during construction. The associated text provides not just a history of each bridge, or the stories associated with it, but something of a history of Dublin and wider Ireland … Overall, this is a very impressive book, not only for students of Dublin’s architectural and engineering history, but for anyone with an interest in bridges. There are few books which bring so much well-researched information together with such an excellent range of imagery, and I can definitely recommend it to interested pontists’, The Happy Pontist (February 2017).
‘Deservedly, the history of Dublin’s remarkable bridges has now been set out in this sumptuous 2015 Dublin City Council publication written by Annette Black and Michael B. Barry … This beautiful book should redress any under-appreciation, prompting readers to look afresh at Dublin’s bridges – these useful, sometimes old, and often graceful, creations … Generously found throughout, and stealing the show, are the double-pages photographs and pictures of the bridges, taken from a multiplicity of angles, past and present, oil and watercolour, engraved and black-and-white … The accompanying text covers historical and technical detail for each bridge … The accompanying tapestry of historical facts associated with the bridges breathes life into them. The stories of their creators and the events which changed and charged the air around them are such that each bridge develops its own unique personality … These beautiful bridges which lace up both halves of the county of Dublin deserve their day in the sun. For pontists, old and newly converted, this is a book to be relished’, Helen Mulvaney, Dublin Historical Record (Spring/Summer 2016).
‘This is a welcome book because within its pages we are given a consistent, entertaining and informative account. There are twenty-four bridges that span the Liffey within the city and county and this books aims to tell the story of each … [it is] enlivened by photographs, engravings and a mix of both present-day and historical images … the essays are written in a clear and engaging style and we learn how each bridge came to be built and we get a short survey of the issues that might have surrounded the building and its use. There are little snippets of information which engage the reader … Bridges tell the story of the development of Dublin and anyone interested in that story will enjoy owning this book. For others, it will be the photographs and the images that will draw them in, while the engineer will find much to enjoy. This is an elegant production with high quality images in a format that does them justice’, Joseph Brady, Irish Geography (2016).
‘This volume’s glorious pictorial tour of twenty-four bridges spanning Ireland’s Liffey River (within Dublin city and county) is lush with full-page colour photographs and drawings … This glorious volume, a perfect gift for all ages, will be treasured through the generations. We only wish these bridges could talk!’, Celtic Connection (August 2016).
‘This charming coffee table book documents 24 of the bridges spanning the Liffey River within Dublin city and county. An artistic color photograph opens each entry, followed by a history of the bridge’s construction, a summary of modern upgrades, a map of the bridge area, close-up shots of bridge details and historical drawings. Two suggested routes for touring the bridges, black and white technical drawings, and a glossary conclude the book’, Ringgold (April 2016).
