Old Weir Bridge

Artist(s): John Carr (Draughtsman)

View of Old Weir Bridge in the Lakes of Killarney. A rowing boat with six rowers and two passengers is on the right-hand side of the image. Hills and woods are on either side of the water. The banks are joined by a stone, two-arched bridge in the centre of the image. Before the bridge, three figures are on the right bank. Beyond, mountains are in the background.

Inscribed in Image

Signature – Drawn by J. Carr Esqr.
Caption outside of boundaries of image – Old Weir Bridge / Published June 2, 1806 by R. Phillips. No. 6, New Bridge Street, Black fryars

Image Details

Genre	Landscape
Technique	Aquatints
Subject(s)	Antiquities and archaeological sites, Architecture, Nature, Transportation
Geographical Location	Kerry – County Munster – Province Old Weir Bridge - Killarney National Park – Named locality
Keyword(s)	Boats, Bridges, Lakes & ponds, Passengers, People, Rivers, Trees
Colour	Coloured
Dimensions	13.2 cm x 20.8 cm
Published / created	1806

Bibliographical Details

Travel Account	The stranger in Ireland
Contributor(s)	John Carr — Role: Author of travel text
Print or manuscript	Print
Location of image in copy	opp. p. 387
Source copy	National Library of Ireland LO 2699 Dir. Off.
Permalink	https://ttce.universityofgalway.ie/irelandillustrated/view/image/ii_image_1371221055
Rights	Courtesy of the National Library of Ireland

Related text from travel account

On account of the descent and rapidity of the current, we were obliged to land at O'Sullivan's Punch-bowl, and whilst eight grenadiers of the Derry militia, with uncommon strength and exertion, pulled the boat through a romantic grey bridge, called Old Weir-bridge, we roved through alleys of the finest holly and arbutus; the fruit of the latter I found by no means unpleasant. The poor people eat it as a wild strawberry, which it resembles in size and colour, and a little in flavour: this beautiful shrub is said to flourish here as finely as at Nice and Provence. The blossom of the arbutus is shaped like a goblet, and the fruit nearly spherical: it is at first of a deep pale which deepens as it advances to ripeness, and is gradually succeeded by a rich scarlet. In size it equals the largest garden strawberry, and requires to be eaten with caution on account of its producing a lethargic effect; and to qualify its juices, the country people generally drink a draught of water with it. The ancients admired the shade and fruit of this plant, which their poets, and amongst them Horace, have celebrated. [p. 387]