Digby Bridge, as the nameplate proclaims, was built, just over 200 years ago, in 1794. It is dedicated to a director of the Grand Canal Company and a member of a local family, the Digbys, who were in possession of an extensive estate at nearby Landenstown. Another family member was Dean Digby, a rector of Clane.

The Grand Canal, commenced in 1756, links Dublin with the river Shannon, some eighty miles distant, across the Central Plain of Ireland by way of Tullamore (reached in 1798). The Canal itself terminates beyond the Shannon at Ballinasloe. Together with its branches, the canal is some one hundred and fifty miles long. Where the canal commenced, near its junction with the river Liffey at Portobello on the west side of Dublin, the Company erected a large hotel (now known as the Institute of Education) in 1807 which then cost more than £10,000.

Reproduced from "Le Chéile" by kind permission