Kilkenny bridge and sheep washing tub beautifully restored

Clashwilliam Bridge and sheep wash tub in Gowran has been fully restored, having fallen into a poor state of repair in recent times.

The condition of the bridge was such that it had become a safety issue. Local councillor Pat Fitzpatrick has complimented the work carried out by stonemason Pat Grace on behalf of Kilkenny County Council, who restored the bridge.

The bridge wall prior to the work

“With the determination of a group of local people, this issue was raised with the area engineer and the Castlecomer Municipal District who agreed that the area engineer would investigate the possibility restoring the bridge,” said Cllr Fitzpatrick.

“I would like to express my thanks to area engineer Philippe Beubry who engaged with the community and commissioned the stone mason to carry out the work to a high standard. I am delighted to see this beautiful structure restored and a piece of history returned to the people of Clashwilliam and local area.”

Superbly restored

History
Known as simply ‘the Bridge’ locally, the stone structure was originally constructed sometime in the mid to late 1800s. It was built originally as a wash tub for sheep — somewhere they would be washed prior to being sheared.
For many centuries, sheep have been washed in the early summer to clean the fleece of the dirt, grit and grease which inevitably build up over the winter months, as a higher price could be obtained for clean fleeces.

Sheep washing was carried out in a deep pool – the washpool or wash ‘dub’ – in a dammed up river or stream, in which the sheep were dropped and forced to swim to get back out. The flock were gathered in a washfold, built on the bank with an opening facing the pool. Access to the dip from the west side is via a number of shallow stone steps.

Sheep washing on a larger scale usually involved driving the flock through a fenced off section of running water. The men would spend hours waist high in cold water and each animal had to be totally immersed and scrubbed; not surprisingly sheep washing was not popular with the men.

Some used stone parapets which enabled them to control and wash the sheep below with long handled crooks and brushes.
The original tub was quite deep so that the animals would be completely submerged in the running water and then would run out the other side when the flock owners were happy that they were clean and ready for shearing. Local people, for safety, filled the tub with stones when it was no longer used as a wash tub.