The current Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Paddy Bourke officiated at the ceremony to mark the rebuilding of the MacMahon Bridge over the Grand Canal Dock joining Pearse Street with the Ringsend Road on Friday 30th May.

The new MacMahon Bridge is the fifth bridge to be constructed over the Grand Canal at this point. Early records indicate that a wooden bridge, the Brunswick Bascule, was built here in 1791 and was later replaced in 1857 by the Victoria Bridge which was again replaced in 1900.

The fourth bridge was opened in 1963, with a lifting section and this was the first MacMahon Bridge named after General Seán MacMahon who fought with Eamon de Valera at Boland’s Mills in 1916 and who later became Chief of Staff of the Irish Army.

Descendants of the General were present, along with members of the defence forces who provided a guard of honour. As President back in 1963, Eamon De Valera unveiled the plaque on the old bridge which has been refurbished and reinstalled on the new bridge.

The decision to replace the 1963 MacMahon Bridge with a modern fixed-span design was taken by Dublin City Council in 2005 with the new design, which has outer elliptical stainless steel glass-clad arches.

The new bridge has two bus lanes and two carriageways. Works were completed in September 2007 at a total cost of €4million with a grant of €2.5million provided by the Departments of the Environment and Transport under the National Development Plan. Consulting Engineers Mott MacDonald Petit and Paul Arnold architects were responsible for the design with SIAC Construction the main contractor.

Pointing to the new bridge and remarking on the new Grand Canal Dock buildings, Lord Mayor Paddy Burke said, “This is the General MacMahon Bridge. It has been widened and re-dedicated here today. It is an important arterial link for the city, 16,000 cars go across the bridge every day but it has bus lanes as well, which is significant from the point of view in reducing the number of cars on the road. I think today has been a wonderful event, not just for me as Lord Mayor but also for the family and for the people of the community since General MacMahon came from the area.”

Pictured above: Brigadier General Denis Murphy with members of the extended family of the late General Seán MacMahon