The main Newry to Camlough Road was closed to traffic for two consecutive nights early last week as NI Railway employees worked to remove overgrown shrubs and vegetation at the Egyptian Arch. It’s been more than 50 years since such maintenance has been carried out at the iconic Arch, the last such work believed to have taken place in the 1960s.
Historic structure
The construction of the railway bridge was completed in 1851 for the Dublin and Belfast Junction Railway Company and was the result of collaboration between Civil Engineer and Architect, Sir John Macneill, and Railway Engineer, William Dargan. The design was based on the Pylon – the gateway of an ancient Egyptian Temple. Locally known as the Egyptian Arch, the rail bridge passes over the Newry–Camlough Road, in the County Armagh side of Newry and is located approximately 2 miles from the border between on the Dublin–Belfast railway line. The Egyptian Arch derived its name from its resemblance to the nemes headdress worn by Ancient Egyptian pharaohs.
