Mahon Bridge

Mahon Bridge (Irish: Droichead na Machan), also spelled Mahonbridge, is a village in the parish of Kilrossanty in mid County Waterford, Ireland, located on the R676 road between Carrick on Suir and Dungarvan. The nearest town is Kilmacthomas.

Contents

• Map of Mahon Bridge Co Waterford Ireland
• Archaeology
• References

Map of Mahon Bridge, Co. Waterford, Ireland

The village has a local shop, a garage and crash repair yard, and a historic creamery which is no longer in use. The rural shop is attached to a house and requires doorbell use for entry outside peak trading hours.

Mahon Bridge is named for the picturesque bridge which crosses the River Mahon at this point, the river running from the Mahon Falls in the Comeragh Mountains to the sea at Bunmahon. Mahon Bridge is well known to walkers and hill climbers who use the village as a jumping-off point for visits to the Falls.

In 2009 a hydroelectric power station was completed just upriver from Mahon Bridge. The station is privately owned and is fed from two weirs, one on the Mahon and the other on the Mahon Og, about 2 km upstream of the village. The scheme generates a maximum of 850 kW of electricity to add to the national grid. The turbine house is of a very inconspicuous and low profile design being mostly located below ground level and not visible from the nearby road. This was necessary due to the region possessing outstanding scenery. It was originally conceived and run by Sean Murphy, a local historian and actor who features in the locally produced comedy series, Bachelors in Trouble. The turbine house is located very close to a large ruined mill which was built in the famine years 1845–1848 but which saw little use as a corn mill before being sold. At some stage in the mid 20th century part of it was demolished by Waterford Co. Council and the stone used for road building, a fact which is now greatly resented by residents of the area.

Stage 2 of the 1998 Tour de France passed through Mahon Bridge.

The village is laid out around a triangular field, from which roads lead to Kilrossanty, Fews, Furraleigh, Briska and Lyre (home of the infamous Bachelors in Trouble produced by local historian Sean Murphy).