REMNANTS OF OLD SUSPENSION BRIDGE – LADY DESART BRIDGE
The remnants of the old Talbot’s Inch Suspension Bridge have been exposed whilst Kilkenny County Council has undertaken maintenance works along the River Nore linear park.
The Talbot’s Inch Suspension Bridge was built by Lady Desart in 1906 to enable mill workers to cross the River Nore, from their residences in Talbot’s Inch to the mills on the opposite side of the River. The Bridge stood until it was destroyed by the Great Flood in 1947. The recent maintenance works have revealed the remnants of the concrete ramp leading up to the Bridge, the steel column supports for the bridge and the suspension cables from which the bridge deck was hung.
Ellen Odette Cuffe, Countess of Desart (née Bischoffsheim; 1 September 1857 – 29 June 1933) was a London-born Jewish woman who was best known as an Irish politician, company director, Gaelicist (President of the Gaelic League for a time), and philanthropist in Ireland. She commissioned the village of Talbot’s Inch to be built by the architect William Alphonsus Scott. along with several other projects she and Capt. Cuffe developed together. These included Kilkenny Library, Aut Even Hospital, the Woollen Mills, Kilkenny Woodworkers, Kilkenny Theatre, the Tobacco Growers Association, Desart Hall, and Talbots Inch Suspension Bridge.
1947 was the year of the ‘big snow’. Snow began in January and it snowed heavily right through until early March. The cause of the great flood was that the thaw from the big snow came very rapidly in March. The resulting floods caused extensive damage along the River Nore and nearby.
Kilkenny incurred much flooding in the mid 1900s and the local population relied on the skills of engineer Harry Shine, who used a series of gauges upstream to accurately predict flooding and gave people enough time to evacuate before the flood arrived. In recent years a new flood relief scheme has prevented the flooding problems that Kilkenny has had for centuries.
Today I used a Voigtlander 40mm Manual Focus lens.
The river floods surrounding areas from time to time, as it is too short and shallow to hold the volume of water which pours into it from its tributaries during heavy rain. The River Dodder “has a history of flooding and is known as a “flashy” river with a quick response to rainstorms.”
A flood on the Dodder in March 1628 claimed the life of Arthur Ussher, Deputy Clerk to the Privy Council of Ireland, who was “carried away by the current, nobody being able to succour him, although many persons…. his nearest friends, were by on both sides.”
The two greatest Dodder floods before 1986 occurred on 25 August 1905, and on 3 and 4 August 1931. Hurricane Charley (often spelt “Charlie” in Ireland) passed south of the country on 25 August 1986. In 24 hours, 200mm (almost 8 inches) of rain poured down on Kippure Mountain while 100mm fell on Dublin causing heavy river flooding, including the Dodder in many places, and hardship and loss were experienced.
It has long been recognised that the problem of flooding is very difficult to solve, due to the sheer volume of water which pours into the river during periods of heavy rainfall.
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