‘It would be transformative’: Liffey crossing Farmleigh Bridge has been restored, but will it ever be reused?

Later this month, after almost a year of work, the restoration of Farmleigh “Silver” bridge, which spans the river Liffey at the Strawberry Beds in Dublin, is to be completed.

The bridge, built by the Guinness family in 1872-1880 to provide a pedestrian and livestock crossing between Farmleigh Estate in the Phoenix Park and Palmerstown, south of the Liffey, is the only river crossing between Lucan and Chapelizod, a distance of 8.5km.

It was closed to the public for 50 years, having been allowed to deteriorate to a ruinous state, with its walkway entirely lost. Following a €1.5 million investment by Fingal County Council, damaged bearings have been replaced, masonry abutments repaired and a protective coating applied to the Victorian steel structure.

We were delighted when the council said they would restore it, but then really disappointed they weren’t going to reopen it

—  Paul Corcoran of Rebuild the Silver Bridge

However, to the disappointment of campaigners, the bridge deck has not been reinstated and there are no plans for it to be reopened as a river crossing.

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“In the National Archives you can see pictures of a stepped structure going all the way from the bridge on the north bank up to Farmleigh. It’s only 200m from the bridge to Farmleigh’s gates,” says Paul Corcoran who started the Rebuild the Silver Bridge campaign 13 years ago.

“We were delighted when the council said they would restore it, but then really disappointed they weren’t going to reopen it. We need to get people using it so it doesn’t go into decline again.”

The bridge could be a catalyst for the creation of a Liffey park, running beside the river all the way to Lucan, says Joe Byrne, chairman of the Liffey Valley Park Alliance.

“We would see this as a great opportunity to link the two sides of the river and develop a proper greenway,” he says.

“We have had the support of all parties, and protections have been put in the county development plans so the lands are all classed as amenity lands and green areas, and we consider that a success. However, we have not had the same success with the development of a greenway.

“We have had promises that work would start on it, but it hasn’t happened and the whole thing has gone a bit dead in the last few years.”

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Fine Gael Senator Emer Currie says reopening the bridge would “unlock the potential of the Liffey Valley park that was promised more than 20 years ago” and link a number of green spaces along the Liffey to the west of the city.

“It would be transformative for us to be able to connect St Catherine’s Park in Lucan, all the way into Islandbridge Memorial Gardens and the Phoenix Park, with Porterstown Park and Waterstown Park and potentially the St Edmundsbury lands and the beautiful Strawberry Beds,” she says.

“One of the barriers to creating a Liffey Valley park was that there are multiple owners of these lands, but what I would say is: look to the Great Western Greenway in Mayo or the Beara peninsula, where there are trails and greenways created in partnership with landowners.”

Fingal County Council said the feasibility of reopening the bridge to pedestrians would be assessed following completion of the restoration. “This will consist of further discussions with South Dublin County Council to establish if appropriate lands and access from both northern and southern sides of the bridge can be provided, further analysis on road safety issues and cost planning.”

It was also working with South Dublin County Council to re-establish a committee that would “have the development of the park as a central element”.

South Dublin County Council, which is responsible for the southside of the Liffey in this area, did not respond to queries.