The remains of a ruined bridge span the River Griffeen parallel to the present day Esker Bridge at Lynche's Lane. Proudly acclaimed to be the oldest bridge in Ireland, it is perhaps the most important archaeological structure within the park. This bridge, which is recorded on 18th century maps, was commissioned by King John at some time during his reign between 1199-1216 and is known as King John's Bridge. King John was renowned for building many bridges during his reign and is often known as the 'Bridge-minded Monarch'. The bridge probably fell into disuse between 1760 and 1816.
Only one arch remains of the original arches of equal span. The stonework and construction is described as being of high quality and probably involved the skills of a master craftsman. There was a water mill situated a little upstream from King John's Bridge and a second one was a little further upstream again.
The given coordinates are for the new bridge which offers a good view of King John’s bridge to the south.
In order to find the cache you will first need to obtain the following numbers: (BYOP)
A: How many arches did the bridge originally have?
B,C,D,E,F can be obtained from the two bus stops which are adjacent to the new bridge BCDE and BCFF
The cache is located at N 53° 20.UVW W 006° 26.XYZ
U D+E
V E
W A+B+D
X C-A
Y E+F
Z A+F+D
