side to the other. On
large rivers a "tochar" or causeway was
made of large boulders heaved one after the
other into the water till eventually they came
above the surface.
About the
year 750A.D. wooden bridges came into
use but it was not until the coming of
the Anglo-Normans in the
12th century that
stone bridges became general. The first
attempts were primitive and were known
as "Clappe" bridges
which were of
cyclopean mould and composed of
enormous stones. The roadway or passage
on top is made of huge
transverse slabs 9
to 12 ft. long and 4 or 5 ft. wide and
thick in proportion. This bridge in
Springfield was erected in the
early part of the
13th century by the Augustinian Friars
of Ballybeg for convenience in crossing
the Awbeg to their
mill and
lands beyond. The transverse slabs
measure 9 to 10 ft. in length and are
wide and thick in proportion and each
weighs a
ton. Five arches can still be seen and
three of the largetransverse
slabs. A few
Clapper or Cyclpean bridges also exist
in Devonshire,
but they are now very rare and this one
at Springfield is the finest in Ireland
and well worth a visit. These Clapper
bridges were probably so called from
the resemblance of the spanning
transverse stresses, running from
buttress to buttress and very long and
comparatively thin in proportion to
their length to the clapper or staves
of a barrel. The stone of which the
Springfield Bridge is composed is
limestone of which there is abundance
in the adjacent quarry.
Long ago where streamlets were not deep a
number of stepping stones or "clocher" were
used in getting from one