The Bridge over the river Maigue was built by Gerald, fifth Earl of Kildare, whose earldom extended from 1390 to 1410, and so it was built sometime between those two dates. The original bridge was extremely narrow and barely wide enough for a cart to pass by. Chevron-like openings or “v” shaped set-backs were built to one side of the bridge to allow pedestrians to take refuge. These features were retained when the bridge was widened by the Earl of Dunraven.