Tipperary County Council bridge inspections: what the Council's own documents record about Killardry Bridge
Council watch · institutional record · bridge inspection
This page sets out, in date order, what Tipperary County Council's own inspection reports, FOI decisions and minutes record about one structure: Killardry Bridge, asset TY-L3151-B-010, on the L3151 near Kilmoyler. Every line is quoted from or cited to a Council document. The page does not identify who received any document or why any decision was made; the documents do not say.
4 March 2014 — principal inspection
The South Tipperary Eirspan Bridges Inventory and Principal Inspection Report, TS-LP3101-001.00, prepared by O'Connor Sutton Cronin for South Tipperary County Council, recorded for Component 4, Parapets/Safety barrier: "Some loose/missing stones and some repointing is required on both parapets." It costed two items for 2017: masonry repointing, €250, and masonry repair, €200. It recorded a minimum parapet height of 0.55 m and an approach skew of 90 degrees (document record).
2016 — the inspection that did not take place
The Council's internal-review decision of 18 February 2026 states, of the 2014 report's inspection schedule: "Sufficient funding was not available for inspection of the bridge in 2016, and no subsequent inspection took place." It adds that "Killardry bridge was considered to have a condition rating of 2" and that "Bridges with a condition rating of 2 or better were further down the list of priorities than bridges with worse condition ratings" (internal-review decision).
20 June 2024 — maintenance inspection
The Council's maintenance inspection of 20 June 2024, as recorded in the inspection held on file, rated the structure "Warning" overall and the parapets "Good" (2024–2025 inspection record; the ratings are from the inspection document held on file).
21 January 2025 — engineering inspection
The Council's engineering inspection, TY-L3151-B-010, rated the structure "Significant Damage", recorded that "Capping of the downstream wall has been partly removed", and noted four areas of missing stonework upstream and two downstream (2024–2025 inspection record). The Council's Bridge Detail field for the structure, recorded in the inspection held on file, reads "Is Signage Present? No." Bronagh English died at the bridge on 24 April 2025, 93 calendar days later. The documents held record no repair and no signage in that interval; they are not proof that no later measure was taken.
25 May 2026 — the district's bridge stock, on the record
The signed minutes of the Cahir–Cashel Municipal District meeting of 25 May 2026 record the District Engineer, James Swords, telling the meeting there are 477 bridges in the District, that applications for funding had been made for 14, and that funding was secured for three (signed minutes, p. 6; readback).
31 July 2026 — FOI 10526
The Council's FOI decision records the searches it ran for speed-limit and traffic-management records — its CRM "for speed from 2014 to date" and minutes "back to 2014" — and corrects the road identifier: "The correct number is L3151." Its Road Management works table lists a 2018 road reconstruction at chainage 1780–2480 and a 2025 resealing at chainage 0–1802 — overlapping the first ~22 m of the Killardry section, which begins at chainage 1780 — both marked complete (FOI 10526 decision · works table, items 6 and 8).
18 February 2026 — the internal review
"Tipperary County Council seeks funding from the Department each year to carry out works on bridges around the county." "Typically, funding is allocated to fund works on 5 to 10 bridges each year." "Accordingly, the repair works listed in the report have not been carried out to date." On drainage: "The only drainage works that were carried out on the L-3151 consisted of inlets in the roadside verges being cleaned out. … There were no specific drainage works carried out on the bridge itself." (internal-review decision, Kieran Malone, Senior Engineer, Roads FOI 02/26 / TCC FOI 174/25).
What this record establishes, and what it does not
- It establishes, from the Council's own documents, a costed 2014 parapet item; the Council's own statement that after the unfunded 2016 inspection "no subsequent inspection took place" (the next inspection in the held record is June 2024); a "Significant Damage" rating with no signage recorded in January 2025; and the Council's February 2026 account that the 2014-listed works had not been carried out to that date.
- It does not establish who received any inspection, what risk assessment followed, or the cause of any death. Those remain evidence questions.
The family's position: Bronagh's family believes a bridge carrying a costed parapet defect from 2014, and a "Significant Damage" rating with no signage in January 2025, should have had signing or a temporary barrier while it waited its turn among "5 to 10 bridges each year". That is presented as the family's position, not as a finding about any person's knowledge, motive, responsibility or causation.
Sources
- Eirspan Principal Inspection Report TS-LP3101-001.00, 4 March 2014 — https://bronaghenglish.com/documents/eirspan-2014-inspection/
- Tipperary County Council inspections, 20 June 2024 and 21 January 2025, TY-L3151-B-010 — https://bronaghenglish.com/documents/tcc-inspections-2024-2025/
- Cahir–Cashel Municipal District signed minutes, 25 May 2026, p. 6 — https://www.tipperarycoco.ie/sites/default/files/2026-06/TCC%20MD%20May%20Minutes%2025052026%20signed.pdf#page=6 (readback: https://bronaghenglish.com/documents/cahir-cashel-md-minutes-2026/)
- Inspection ratings "Warning" (20 June 2024) and the Bridge Detail field "Is Signage Present? No" (21 January 2025) — inspection documents held on file (site record)
- FOI 10526 decision, 31 July 2026 — https://bronaghenglish.com/documents/foi-10526-decision/; Road Management works table, items 6 and 8 — https://bronaghenglish.com/documents/road-management-foi-works-table/
- Internal-review decision, Roads FOI 02/26 (TCC FOI 174/25), 18 February 2026 — https://bronaghenglish.com/documents/internal-review-decision-2026-02-18/
Factual record. No finding of causation or responsibility is made here.