Two hospitalised and section of historic Cork City bridge knocked into river after crash
Damage done to Parliament Bridge in Cork City by an apparent collision on Wednesday. Picture: Dan Linehan
Two people have been hospitalised after a vehicle collided with a section of a historic bridge in Cork City in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Gardaí and emergency services personnel attended the scene of the single-vehicle crash, which happened on Parliament Bridge at approximately 12.55am.
Two people, a man and a woman, were taken to Cork University Hospital (CUH) for treatment following the incident. Their injuries are not understood to be life-threatening.
Shortly after the crash, Cork City Council workers erected barriers along the affected section of the bridge, which links George's Quay to the Centre Island and South Mall.
The impact of the crash was such that a part of the historic bridge's parapet was knocked into the River Lee below.
A gap of about 8m or so along the side of bridge remained cordoned off as of 10am on Wednesday, with signage redirecting pedestrians away from the footpath there.
The affected section is directly opposite the Sober Lane gastropub. At present, the bridge remains open to traffic.
Cork City Councillor Mick Finn told the that council workers began work to make the bridge safe shortly after this morning's crash was reported, and the two people injured in the incident were safely transported to hospital.
"It's a very busy bridge going into the city. So they [council workers] were on hand to close it off," he said.
Mr Finn said that repairing the bridge could be "very costly".
"But it may give us the opportunity to do something properly with the bridge and renovate it and refurbish it," he said.
Constructed in 1806 to coincide with a wider expansion and redesign of the city, Parliament Bridge was designed by William Hargrave, who also designed Cork Custom House.
The single-arched limestone bridge was built to replace another timber bridge at the same location which was damaged by flooding in 1804.
Named after the Act of Union of 1800/1801, Parliament Bridge was subsequently reconstructed and repaired in 1992. Repair work on part of the northwest corner of the bridge by the old quay walls was carried out in 2021.
A spokesperson for Cork City Council told the that, after the incident on Wednesday, “a large amount of stone was recovered by roads maintenance crews and taken into storage".
"Safety barriers have been erected and the western footpath of Parliament Bridge has been closed at the junction with Sullivans Quay," the spokesperson said.
"An assessment of the remedial work required to the parapet will take place over the coming days."
