The Ha'penny Bridge (known later for a time as the Penny Ha'penny Bridge)
is a pedestrian bridge built in 1816 over the River Liffey in Dublin,
Ireland. Originally called the Wellington Bridge (after the Duke of
Wellington), the name of the bridge changed to Liffey Bridge, and
somewhat surprisingly, the name remains as so to this day. However, due
to its distinct shape as well as the original toll of one halfpenny,
(later, one penny, two farthings) the more popular title of Ha'penny
Bridge stuck in the minds of the natives. The toll itself was dropped in
1919; before this, turnstiles lay on either side of it.
Before the Ha'penny Bridge had been built there were seven
ferries that operated from one side of the Liffey to the other under the
watchful eye of William Walsh. The ferries had been said to be in a bad
condition and he was told that he had to either fix the ferries or build
a bridge. Walsh chose the latter option and was granted the right to
extract a ha'penny toll from anyone crossing it for 100 years.
The bridge was originally built from cast iron, which has a great
tendency to decay with age. This was especially evident in the side
rails, which had begun to rust badly. From 2001 to 2003 the bridge was
closed for repair and renovations, and was reopened sporting a new white
colour instead of black, and a resupported structure containing as many
of the old components of the bridge as possible. The repair work was
carried out by Harland and Wolff, makers of the RMS Titanic.