In my own opinion, this is a very unusual footbridge, as I grew up into the way of thinking that any bridge, whether it crossed a river, a road or a railway, no matter whether it was built at right angles or diagonally to whatever it crossed, it had to be straight.

The curve of this bridge follows the contour of a small weir in the river. Whilst crossing the river, if you look into the water, you may be lucky enough to see a salmon swimming by, as the salmon season in these waters is very long indeed.

There is an ancient manuscript which states that Saint Patrick met two fishermen here and asked them for a salmon, the fishermen explained that there were no salmon here in the winter months, however they cast their nets into the river and to their surprise found a large salmon from their nets, which they presented to Saint Patrick.

In return Saint Patrick is said to have blessed the river and imparted to it the privilege of yielding salmon all the year round.

On reaching the other side of the river, turn right, and walk until there is a small shop on your right, here you must cross the road and walk up the side road until you get to a small grassy area in the middle of the road, here you must turn right, a further few paces you will come across The Sligo Abbey on your right-hand side, just opposite a car park.

Click here to read about: Sligo Abbey.

Last Modified Thursday, 20-Dec-2007 21:56:43 GMT.