A formal bridge opening ceremony took place in Cork today to mark the completion of the €1.2 million restoration of the city's 158-year-old St Patrick's Bridge.
Cork City Council had invited anyone whose name was Paddy or Patricia - in any language - to come along for a special photograph to mark the occasion.
Over 158 men, women and children turned up and were all given a free St Patrick costume.
Among them, three generations of the Buckley family from Glasheen and Bishopstown - Patrick Buckley, his son Patrick, and his seven-week-old grandson Patrick.
The trowel used to lay the bridge's original foundation - on loan from Cork Public Museum - was used by Lord Mayor of Cork, Councillor Mick Finn, to lay the last piece of stonework.
The Provincial Grand Master of the Munster Freemasons, Leslie Deane, brought along the spirit level used by the Earl of Carlisle, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland when laying the original foundation stone on 10 November 1859.
A joint blessing of the bridge was performed by Bishops John Buckley and Paul Colton.
As part of the project, which was funded by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the stonework on the 19th century heritage bridge was cleaned, repainted and repaired, with specialist repair and restoration work undertaken on the bridge's lamp columns and some additional damaged lamp columns found in storage.
The bridge's footpaths and carriageway surfacing were also replaced and new markings put in place as well as an upgrading of signage, traffic lights, and architectural lighting.
