FP McCann’s Causeway Basalt Stone Helps Restore 18th Century Kilrea Bridge

Status: Completed

Location: Kilrea Bridge, County Derry/Londonderry

Division: Quarrying

Client: Stone Solutions Stonemasons Ltd

FP McCann’s Causeway Basalt Stone was used for restoration work on the historic Kilrea Bridge in County Derry/Londonderry.

The Kilrea Bridge was originally constructed in 1783 and carries the B64 Bann Road across the River Bann near the village of Kilrea. The bridge is a listed structure and was closed to traffic for a number of weeks in 2025 while essential work was carried out. The bridge reopened to cars and light vehicles in December and fully reopened in mid-February.

Due to the historic nature of the structure, the importance of maintaining the original characteristics of the bridge was extremely important. Basalt stone is naturally occurring in the surrounding area, and our Causeway Basalt Stone is locally sourced from our Bradley’s Quarry – just a few miles from the bridge.

The stone was supplied to Stone Solutions, 3rd generation stonemasons based in Magherafelt. The stone is extracted from the quarry face and cut down using a specialised guillotine at their premises. The stone is cut and shaped to a range of sizes to suit different project requirements. Larger cuts of stone are guillotined for use in walling and buildings, and smaller cuts are then cut down further for use as natural stone cladding.

Gary Harkness, Owner, Stone Solutions, said: “We have been working with FP McCann’s stone for a number of years now. We select the stone directly from the quarry face and bring it back to be guillotined. The basalt stone is a versatile and durable material with a lovely unique appearance – it was perfect for this restoration project, and we are delighted to see the stone looking so well in the finished walling.”

FP McCann’s Causeway Basalt Stone has been used at a number of other notable locations in recent years, including The Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre and the Old Bushmills Distillery.

This project was completed in summer 2026.

For further information on FP McCann’s Quarrying Products, contact the sales team at any of our depots: