Landmarks swept away in Irish floods/downpours
Pastor Dale Morgan
Landmarks swept away in Irish floods/downpours*
· Torrential rains claim The Field's celebrated bridge
· Country hit by flash floods, landslips and closed roads
Owen Bowcott, Ireland correspondent
Friday July 20, 2007
The Guardian
The three-arched stone bridge that featured in the Oscar-nominated film
The Field has been swept away by torrential rain, forcing drivers to
take an 80-mile detour around the west of Ireland.
The bridge, in the centre of the village of Leenane, had stood since
1825 on the edge of Killary harbour, the Republic's only fjord. It
spanned the rriver Lahill beside a sheep and wool museum, carrying an
estimated 4,000 vehicles a day on the main road between Clifden, County
Galway, and Westport, County Mayo.
Locals in Leenane were sheltering from the latest summer deluge at
teatime on Wednesday when they heard a loud crack as the first arch
snapped under the force of the swollen torrent. The second arch
collapsed moments later and was dragged away, cutting the village in half.
"We had had torrential rain for three solid hours," Tony Hamilton, the
proprietor of Hamilton's bar opposite the bridge, told the Guardian.
"There had been a mudslide upriver and that had brought down trees and
large stones. The water backed up for more than a hundred yards.
"There were people sheltering in the bar even though it was flooded. The
water was coming down so fast behind the bar the drains couldn't cope;
water was coming in the back door and going out the front.
"Suddenly the bridge gave way. We were very lucky no buses were going
over the bridge at the time. They are trying to repair the footbridge
but we've been told it could be two weeks before they can put up a
crossing for vehicles."
The destruction occurred at the start of a particularly rain-sodden
tourist season that has witnessed flash floods, landslips and the
closure of coastal roads.
Although the bridge is only 20 metres in length there are no nearby
roads linking County Galway to County Mayo. It requires an 80-mile trip
inland to return on the opposite bank of the river. Some people, having
parked their cars on the far side of the river, were stranded when the
bridge collapsed.
Leenane and the stone bridge, at the foot of the Maamturk mountains,
appeared as backdrops in Jim Sheridan's 1989 film The Field, based on a
play by John B Keane. Both the film and the play retell the true story
of a tenant farmer who feared he was about to lose the field he had
nurtured for decades in the inhospitable landscape. In a fit of fury he
murdered his wealthier rival who wanted to buy the land.
Leenane has prospered since the film, drawing in thousands of tourists
every year. In the film, Bull McCabe bids £50 for the field. Three years
ago the ruined cottage with views over Killary harbour used to portray
his home went on the market for €225,000 (£150,000).
Galway county council has promised to repair the bridge as soon as it
can. The freak weather that recently hit Britain has for the past week
become stationary over Ireland, producing towering cloud systems and
monsoon-like downpours.