Father Mathew Bridge

Father Mathew Bridge Droichead an Athar Maitiú
Father Mathew Bridge (formerly known as Whitworth Bridge)
Coordinates	53.3455°N 6.2757°W/53.3455; -6.2757
Crosses	River Liffey
Locale	Dublin,Ireland
Preceded by	Mellows Bridge
Followed by	O'Donovan Rossa Bridge
Characteristics
Design	Elliptical arch stone bridge
Material	Granite
Total length	~45m
Width	~15m
No.of spans	3
History
Designer	George Knowles
Construction end	1816
Replaces	Droichet Dubhgaill (11th century?) Bridge of Dublin (13th century) Rebuilt Dublin Bridge (1428)
Location

A 19th-century view of theFour CourtsbyWilliam Sadler,showing the 15th-century Bridge of Dublin shortly before it was pulled down

Father Mathew Bridge(Irish:Droichead an Athar Maitiú)is a road bridge spanning theRiver LiffeyinDublin,Ireland, which joins Merchants Quay to Church Street and the north quays. It occupies the approximate site of the original and for many years the onlyBridge of Dublin,dating back to the 11th century.

History

The site of the bridge is understood to be close to the ancient "Ford of the Hurdles",which was the original crossing point on the Liffey and gives its name (inIrish) to the city of Dublin (Irish:Baile Átha Cliath,meaning 'Town of the Hurdled Ford').

At the turn of the first millennium (c. 1014), the first recorded Dublin Liffey bridge was built at this point. Possibly known as theBridge of Dubhghall,this basic wooden structure was maintained and rebuilt over several centuries (from early Medieval to Viking to Norman times).

These rebuilds included aNormanbridge (sanctioned byKing John) in the early 13th century.This collapsed however in the late 14th century and in 1428, theDominicansof OstmantownFriarybuilt the first masonry bridge in Dublin on the same spot.Known asDublin Bridge,Old Bridge,or simplyThe Bridge,this four-arch structure had towers at either end, and shops, housing, an inn and a chapel were built on its supports. In 1312,Geoffrey de Morton,Mayor of Dublin1302–3, was reprimanded for building a house without permission on the bridge. It was he who began building the towers, which were completed by his son-in-lawJohn de Grauntsete,who later built St. Mary's Chapel on the Bridge.

For much of its 390-year life span,The Bridgecarried all pedestrian, livestock and horse-drawn traffic across the river, and (as late as 1762) its tolls and chapel were still in use.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Dublin Bridge was replaced by a three-span, elliptical arch stone bridge. Designed by George Knowles (who also designedO'Donovan Rossa BridgeandLucan Bridge), the bridge was opened in 1818asWhitworth Bridge,being named forCharles Whitworth, 1st Earl Whitworth,the thenLord Lieutenant of Ireland.

As with many other Dublin bridges (particularly those named for British peers), the bridge was renamed following the establishment of theIrish Free StateasDublin Bridgein the 1920s.

In line with another, later, Dublin tradition of naming bridges fortemperancecampaigners, the bridge was renamed again in 1938 forFather Theobald Mathew(the Apostle of Temperance), who was born at Thomastown nearGolden,County Tipperary.