O'Donovan Rossa Bridge is a road bridge spanning the River Liffey

River Liffey

The Liffey is a river in Ireland, which flows through the centre of Dublin. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the River Poddle and the River Camac. The river supplies much of Dublin's water, and a range of recreational opportunities.-Name:The river was previously named An Ruirthech,...

 in Dublin, Ireland and joining Winetavern Street to Chancery Place (at the Four Courts

Four Courts

The Four Courts in Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's main courts building. The Four Courts are the location of the Supreme Court, the High Court and the Dublin Circuit Court. The building until 2010 also formerly was the location for the Central Criminal Court.-Gandon's Building:Work based on...

) and the north quays.

Replacing a short lived wooden structure, the original masonry bridge

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

 on this site was built in 1684 as a five-span simple arch bridge, and named Ormonde Bridge. In December 1802 this bridge was swept away during a severe storm

Storm

A storm is any disturbed state of an astronomical body's atmosphere, especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather...

.

In 1816, a replacement bridge — the current structure — was constructed a little further west to the designs of James Savage

James Savage (architect)

James Savage was a British architect, perhaps best known for designing St. Luke's Church, Chelsea.-Life:Savage was born in Hoxton, London, on 10 April 1779. He was educated at a private school in Stockwell and then articled to Daniel Asher Alexander, architect of the London Docks, for whom he...

. It consists of three elliptical arch spans in granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

, with sculptured heads, similar to those on O'Connell Bridge

O'Connell Bridge

O'Connell Bridge is a road bridge spanning the River Liffey in Dublin, and joining O'Connell Street to D'Olier Street, Westmoreland Street and the south quays.-History:...

, on the keystones

Keystone (architecture)

A keystone is the wedge-shaped stone piece at the apex of a masonry vault or arch, which is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allowing the arch to bear weight. This makes a keystone very important structurally...

. The heads represent Plenty, the Liffey, and Industry on one side, with Commerce, Hibernia and Peace on the other. The balustrades are of cast-iron.

Opened as Richmond Bridge (for the Duke of Richmond

Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond

Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, 4th Duke of Lennox KG, PC was a British soldier and politician and Governor General of British North America.-Background:...

 Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was the British King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...

), it was renamed in 1923 for Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa

Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa

Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa , was an Irish Fenian leader and prominent member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. His life as an Irish Fenian is well documented but he is perhaps known best in death for the graveside oration given at his funeral by Pádraig Pearse.-Life in Ireland:He was born at...

 by the fledgeling Free State

Irish Free State

The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...

.