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I accidently came across an old print of St. Patrick’s Bridge in Cork dated 1810 and noticed it was different to the illustration of the Bridge on the reverse of Ploughman £5 notes. On checking this out further, I found that the original bridge was destroyed in a flood in 1853. The original bridge, built in 1789, had a wooden draw bridge on the northern bank to allow tall ships to pass up river. The bridge depicted on the Ploughman £5 notes is the second St. Patrick’s Bridge constructed in the late 1850’s and completed in 1859.

Interesting. The two bridges are of a broadly similar design - three arches. I wonder of the drawbridge section on the first bridge was a weakness int he design which contributed to its structural failure.

The wooden drawbridge was replaced in 1823 and St. Patrick’s Bridge converted to an entirely stone structure. This was probably due to the introduction of steamships and the reduced usage of tall ships. It is possible though that the modification of the bridge created an area of weakness as the section of the bridge close to the north bank was affected.

News of the 1853 disaster received wide coverage and several newspapers provided dramatic accounts of the incident. The Illustrated London News also provided a sketch of the damaged bridge.