From the Fishmarket to the Claddagh: a history of bridges

The Galway Advertiser, April 1st 1999

The first bridge over the Corrib was known as the West Bridge — it was where O'Brien's Bridge is today. The town side of the bridge was fortified, and it was here reputedly that the legend, "From the Ferocious O'Flaherty's, O Lord Deliver Us" was carved instone, The bridge, was widened, in 1852, during the construction of the waterways, to a new width of 40 feet.

In 1820, the Salmon Weir bridge was built, at about the same time as the 'new' courthouse, and facilitated the transfer of prisoners to the town and county gaol, which is where the cathedral is today. There was a legend that they constructed an underwater tunnel at the time so that these prisoners could be moved in secret.

At that time, the Fishmarket was located in Bridge Street and was very small. Eventually, a new site for this market was provided at Spanish Arch.

This meant a long roundabout walk for the Claddagh women, and after many complaints a new bridge was constructed where the Wolfe Tone Bridge is today. This was actually a temporary wooden affair, and one needed a lot of nerve to cross it. Another legend grew up around this bridge, probably started by some Claddagh woman whose husbands were fond of a drop — this was that any Claddagh woman whose husbands were fond of a drop — this was that any Claddagh person traveling west over the bridge at midnight would be attacked by a 'gliomach' or sea monster.

A new replacement iron bridge was built in 1887, and today we have a photograph of the opening ceremony. The ceremony was performed by the chairman of the Town Improvement Commissioners, Colonel O'Hara, and also present were the engineer Mr. Somerville, and the contractor, Mr. Pitts, who wasfrom Leeds.

In the background you can see the Fisheries Tower which was built in 1852. This building has recently been renovated by the Galway Civic Trust, and will shortly open as a museum specializing in the Corrib Fishery between the Salmon Weir and the sea. If you have any material on the subject in the form of photographs, maps, news clippings, artifacts, legends, etc, then Jackie Ni Chionnaith at the Galway Civic Trust, 45 Dominic Street (tel 091 564946) would love to hear from you. A good start might be the location of the plaque at the centre of this photograph.

The new Wolfe Tone bridge was opened in 1934.