A picturesque bridge with monastic ruins

The Derrybawn Bridge was built in 1805 as part of a private driveway to Derrybawn House. It now takes you from Laragh village over the Glandassan River into the grounds of the excellent Glendalough Woollen Mills Craft Shop. Over the years, this beautiful bridge in its woodland setting has become a favorite subject for painters and photographers. Its construction has also been studied it now appears that the middle arch has larger cut stones that may have come from ecclesiastical ruins along the Green Road towards the Glendalough monastic ruins. This lends particular importance to the heritage value of this bridge. The name Laragh or ‘Láithreach’ in Irish means “the site, or ruins, of a building” and so may give some substance to this theory.