The Bridge of Tears: some explanations...
The Bridge Of Tears Approximately 10 kilometres from Dunfanaghy, there is an attractive little stone bridge, which most people pass over nowadays, without a second thought. But if you look more carefully, and pay attention to the nearby plaque, your curiosity may be raised somewhat. The plaque is written in Irish, and a rough translation into English would be, “Friends and relatives of the person emigrating would come this far. Here they parted. This is the Bridge of Tears”. Long before the building of the railway, or modern roads, this was the most common route leading from this area, to Derry, and hence to the ships which would take them to England, Scotland, Australia and America. The relatives of those emigrating would accompany them along the long walk up towards Muckish Gap, and here their Goodbyes would be said. There was no “See you soon”s or “Catch you later”’s. The departure was treated like a death, for they would never be seen again. Crossing The Bridge had a fi...
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