Made in Shropshire: Spanning the years as Dublin's iconic Ha'penny Bridge is celebrated

And now the Telford descendants of its designer have helped celebrate its 200th birthday by making a special symbolic crossing of the bridge as honoured guests of Dublin City Council.

They were on the guest list for the birthday bash on Thursday, May 19, as the city marked the bicentenary of the much-loved landmark over the River Liffey.

"My three times great-grandfather, John Windsor, was the designer of the bridge," said Chris James, whose maiden name is Windsor. "He was born in Coalbrookdale in 1780 and worked at the Coalbrookdale foundry for many years. In the 1841 he was a pattern maker aged 60 and a foreman pattern maker when he was 71. He was retired in the 1861 census aged 81. He died aged 85."

Her illustrious ancestor is mentioned in many guidebooks, but it was not until Chris saw a document from June 1816 that she knew of his role.

"It made it really special," she said.

The document tells how the Wellington Bridge, as it was known at the time, was erected over the River Liffey in commemoration of the Duke of Wellington, and had been made at the Coalbrookdale foundry. "The design was by Mr John Windsor, one of the Coalbrookdale Company's foremen, under whose superintendence the whole was formed and erected where it now stands," it reads.

With a span of 140ft, it had "the most magnificent appearance" and had been described as "the most beautiful of the kind in Europe."

Today the iron bridge is cherished by Dubliners and in recent years became popular with lovers, who attached love locks to the railings, although in 2014 the practice was banned because of worries that the weight of the locks would damage the structure. Over 300kg of locks were removed.

Lord Mayor of Dublin, Criona Ni Dhalaigh, marked the anniversary in a symbolic crossing with descendants of the men who commissioned it and designed it – Dublin Lord Mayor John Claudius Beresford and John Windsor. The day also included talks about the bridge at the City Hall.

The city council offered expenses for Chris and her family up to about £200, and they flew over for the day. They live in a former Coalbrookdale Company cottage in Horsehay, and those in the group were Chris, husband Rob, children Tom and Emma both aged six , Chris' mother June Windsor, and Chris' brother David Windsor and his daughter Becky.

The ribs of the bridge were cast in 18 sections at Coalbrookdale and then shipped to Dublin.

Opened in May 1816, it replaced a ferry for which the fare was a ha'penny, and was the first pedestrian bridge to cross the Liffey and remained the only pedestrian bridge over the river until 1999.