{{Short description|Bridge over the River Liffey in Ireland}} {{Redirect|Carlisle Bridge|the bridge in Lancaster, England|Carlisle Bridge, Lancaster}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox bridge |bridge_name = O'Connell Bridge |native_name = ''Droichead Uí Chonaill'' |native_name_lang = Irish |image = OConnellBridgeDublin.jpg |image_size = 240 |alt = O'Connell Bridge viewed from the west |caption = O'Connell Bridge viewed from the west |other_name = Carlisle Bridge |crosses = [[River Liffey]] |locale = [[Dublin]], Ireland |designer = [[James Gandon]] |preceded = [[Ha'penny Bridge]] |followed = [[Rosie Hackett Bridge]] |material = Granite, portland stone |length = ~45&nbsp;m |width = ~50&nbsp;m (~45&nbsp;m between parapets<ref>{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=nfTy6VSUDqMC&q=o%27connell+bridge&pg=PA42 | publisher = Telford | title = Ireland – Civil Engineering Heritage |author=Ronald C. Cox |author2=Michael H. Gould | page = 41 | date = 1998 | isbn = 978-0-7277-2627-8 | quote = "''the width between parapets [is] 152 ft 8 in [approx 47m]''" | access-date = 2020-10-03 | archive-date = 2021-08-29 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210829074457/https://books.google.com/books?id=nfTy6VSUDqMC&q=o%27connell+bridge&pg=PA42 | url-status = live }}</ref>) |spans = 3 |begin = {{start date and age|1791}}<br/>(reconstruction commenced {{start date and age|1877}}) |complete = {{start date and age|1794}}<br/>(reconstruction completed {{start date and age|1882}}) |coordinates = {{coord|53.3473|-6.2591|display=inline,title}} }}

'''O'Connell Bridge''' ({{irish place name|Droichead Uí Chonaill|no_translate=yes}})<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.logainm.ie/en/1167150 | publisher = Logainm.ie | work = Placenames Commission Database | title = Droichead Uí Chonaill / O'Connell Bridge | access-date = 9 December 2016 | archive-date = 24 December 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181224235653/http://www.logainm.ie/en/1167150%20 | url-status = live }}</ref> is a road bridge spanning the [[River Liffey]] in [[Dublin]], Ireland, which joins [[O'Connell Street]] to [[D'Olier Street]], [[Westmoreland Street]] and the [[Dublin quays|south quays]]. [[File:O Connell Bridge.crop.JPG|thumb|View of bridge from the south with [[O'Connell Street]] in the background]]

==History== ===Carlisle Bridge=== The original bridge (named ''Carlisle Bridge'' after the then [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland]] – [[Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle]]) was designed by [[James Gandon]], and built between 1791 and 1794.<ref name="IA">{{cite web | url = http://archiseek.com/2010/1880-oconnell-bridge-dublin/ | publisher = Archiseek.com | title = 1880 – O'Connell Bridge, Dublin | work = Architecture of Dublin City | date = 2010 | access-date = 2010-04-12 | archive-date = 2016-03-10 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160310141813/http://two.archiseek.com/2010/1880-oconnell-bridge-dublin/ }}</ref>

Originally humped,<ref name="IA"/> and narrower, ''Carlisle bridge'' was a symmetrical, three semicircular arch structure constructed in [[granite]] with a Portland stone [[balustrade]] and [[obelisks]] on each of the four corners.<ref name="PH">{{cite report| url= http://www.berthamilton.com/13329.pdf| title= Project history of Dublin's River Liffey bridges| work= Bridge Engineering 156 Issue BE4| publisher= Phillips & Hamilton| access-date= 2005-06-14| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170812060126/http://www.berthamilton.com/13329.pdf| archive-date= 2017-08-12}}</ref> A keystone head at the apex of the central span symbolises the [[River Liffey]], corresponding to the heads on [[the Custom House]] (also designed by [[James Gandon]]) which personify the other great [[rivers of Ireland]]. [[File:Straight On or Left or Right to Westmoreland Street Only (11336065326).jpg|thumb|Straight on or left or right to [[Westmoreland Street]] only. A busy scene from the 1930s with [[Dublin United Tramways Company]] trams.]]

===O'Connell Bridge reconstruction=== Since 1860, following similar work on ''Essex Bridge'' (now [[Grattan Bridge]]) to improve the streetscape and relieve [[traffic congestion]] on the bridge, it was intended to widen Carlisle Bridge to bring it to the same width as {{convert|70|m|adj=on}}-wide Sackville Street (now O'Connell Street), which formed the north side carriageway connection to the Bridge.<ref name="PH"/> Between 1877 and 1880 the bridge was reconstructed and widened.<ref>{{Structurae|id=20005736|title=O'Connell Bridge | accessdate = 9 December 2016 }}</ref> As can be seen on orthophotography <ref>{{cite web| url = http://ims0.osiemaps.ie/website/publicviewer/main.aspx#V1,715880,734436,8| title = Shop.osi.ie mapviewer| publisher = Ordnance Survey Ireland| access-date = 2009-12-12| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100529055024/http://ims0.osiemaps.ie/website/publicviewer/main.aspx#V1,715880,734436,8| archive-date = 2010-05-29}}</ref> it spans now {{convert|45|m|abbr=on}} of the Liffey and is about {{convert|50|m|abbr=on}} wide.

When the bridge was reopened around 1882 it was renamed for [[Daniel O'Connell]], when the statue in his honour was unveiled.{{efn-la|There are actually two O'Connell Bridges in Dublin. The other spans the pond in [[St Stephen's Green]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.bridgesofdublin.ie/bridges/oconnell-bridge | publisher = Dublin City Council | work = Bridges of Dublin | title = O'Connell Bridge - Overview | access-date = 13 May 2020 | archive-date = 6 August 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200806214312/http://www.bridgesofdublin.ie/bridges/oconnell-bridge | url-status = live }}</ref>}}

In recent years, the lamps that graced the central island have been restored to their five-lantern glory. In 2004, a pair of pranksters installed a plaque on the bridge dedicated to [[Father Pat Noise]], which remained unnoticed until May 2006,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.blather.net/shitegeist/2006/05/father_pat_noise.htm | title = The Father Pat Noise 'Memorial' | date = 16 May 2006 | publisher = Blather.net | access-date = 16 May 2006 | archive-date = 22 May 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060522192840/http://www.blather.net/shitegeist/2006/05/father_pat_noise.htm | url-status = live }}</ref> and was still there as of June 2020.

[[File:Carlisle Bridge, Dublin, c.1870.jpg|thumb|Carlisle Bridge, c. the 1870s]]

==In popular culture== The bridge is the setting of [[Liam O'Flaherty]]'s short story, ''[[The Sniper (story)|The Sniper]]'', and is also referenced in several other works, including [[James Joyce]]'s novel, ''[[Ulysses (novel)|Ulysses]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/dubliners-could-get-their-big-bronze-time-ball-back-1.3243035 | publisher = Irish Times | website = theirishtimes.com | title = Dubliners could get their big bronze 'time ball' back | date = 4 October 2017 | access-date = 13 May 2020 | archive-date = 26 December 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191226083223/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/dubliners-could-get-their-big-bronze-time-ball-back-1.3243035 | url-status = live }}</ref>

[[Arthur Fields (photographer)|Arthur Fields]], locally known as ''The Man on The Bridge'', took more than 182,000 photographs of pedestrians on the bridge from the 1930s to the 1980s.<ref name="GuardAug">{{cite news|title=Arthur Fields: the man on O'Connell bridge|work=The Guardian|date=18 August 2013|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/aug/18/arthur-fields-man-oconnell-bridge-photographs|access-date=12 December 2016|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304234303/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/aug/18/arthur-fields-man-oconnell-bridge-photographs|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.manonbridge.ie | title = Man on Bridge – Photos on the bridge from 1930s–1980s | website = ManOnBridge.ie | access-date = 9 December 2016 | archive-date = 4 December 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201204170808/http://www.manonbridge.ie/ | url-status = live }}</ref>

==Notes== {{Notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Dublin Liffey Bridges}}

[[Category:Bridges in Dublin (city)]] [[Category:Bridges completed in 1794]] [[Category:O'Connell family]] [[Category:1794 establishments in Ireland]] [[Category:Georgian architecture in Dublin (city)]]