NOTE: The cache was placed in winter. I hadn't realised quite how many nettles grow here in the summer time - for now the cache is listed as available but you may need to make your own path through about 10 metres of nettles (or find an alternative route). Best avoided until later on in the year if this is not to your taste...
Originally built between 1851 and 1859 to carry the Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway over a valley and the N71 road to Bandon and South West Cork. The structure is 28 metres tall and has four spans that are 34 metres in length.
The railway closed in 1961 amid considerable public objection. The sad fact was though, that increasing use of cars made the railway unfinancially viable and closure was inevetable in the end.
Since closure, the decking has been stripped to discourage people from walking over the viaduct leaving only the iron girder infrastructure and masonry piers - though grafitti on beams (observable from the top) proves that this hasn't discouraged the extremely adventerous fools souls. The viaduct is now a listed structure.
The viaduct is considered the "Everest" of road bowling. After many unsuccessful attempts by many people, the first to actually loft a bowl onto the structure's top using the standard 28oz bowl was local Irish man Mick Barry on St. Patrick's day, March 17th 1955 - the bowl landed on a parapet. The first to actually clear the structure was Hans Bohllen from West Germany who lofted a bowl over the viaduct, clearing its top by 10 feet, watched by a crowd of 10,000 people who had come to see the attempt.
Please re-hide the cache well. There is evidence that this location is popular with local youths (especially higher up).