The Peace Bridge - County Derry/Londonderry - Blog Six

 Hello hello everyone, and welcome back to the Bridges of Ireland Blog on Blogger, today we are looking at a very special bridge from Derry/Londonderry, the Peace Bridge.

The Peace Bridge is in the city center of Derry/Londonderry and crosses the Foyle River. This tall white pedestrian and cyclist bridge is a self anchored suspension bridge, and was built in 2011. It was designed by AECOM, an American owned international building and infrastructure corporation, who were also responsible for building the Sutong Yangtze River Bridge in China. The bridge is 235 meters long and 13 feet wide. The bridge connects the largely Unionist east side of the city to the largely Nationalist west side, and signifies a peaceful union between the communities of the city

That's all for this week's entry, goodbye goodbye!

The Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, County Antrim - Blog Five

 Hello hello everyone, and welcome back to the Bridges of Ireland Blog on Blogger, today we are looking at a particularly unusual bridge, the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge in County Antrim. 

Located near the village on Ballintoy, the bridge connects the island of Carricarede (Irish for 'Rock of the Casting') to the mainland. The bridge is twenty meters long and is thirty meters above the rocks below. It is a tourist attraction to visitors who climb across it to see the island, and it is owned by the National Trust. It costs £9 to cross the bridge, and it can hold eight people at a time. It has been thought that salmon fishermen have been building bridges to the island for over 350 years, and the bridge has changed a lot over time. In the 1970's the bridge only had one handrail and had large gaps between the planks, though the bridge is much safer now, and has two handrails. Many tourists have been intimidated by it's height however, and some have been to scared to cross the bridge again back to the mainland and have had to have been helicoptered off the island.

That's all for this week's entry, goodbye goodbye!

The Ha'Penny Bridge, County Dublin - Blog Four

 Hello hello everyone, and welcome back to the Bridges of Ireland Blog on Blogger. Today we're going to look at one of the most photographed bridges in Ireland, Dublin's Ha'Penny Bridge.

The Ha'Penny Bridge is one of the most well known bridges in Dublin, and has made a strong impact in Dublin's culture. Officially named the Liffey Bridge, the nickname came from pedestrians in early 20th Century Dubliners having to pay half a penny to cross the bridge, though this was done away with in 1913. Despite popular belief, the toll was introduced to make up for the prices that the city would miss out on from ferries no longer being able to use the route. many mistakenly believe that the toll was to pay for the construction of the bridge. The bridge was built from cast-iron in Shropshire, England, before being brought to Dublin. At the time it was called Wellington Bridge - after the Dublin born Duke of Wellington, however this name didn't stick.

That's all for this week's entry - goodbye goodbye!