The Ha'penny Bridge opened in May, 1816. Before this there were seven passenger boats operated by William Walsh which crossed the Liffey. The ferries were in a bad condition and Walsh was informed by the corporation that he had to either fix them or build a pedestrian bridge. Walsh chose the latter option and was granted the right to extract a ha'penny toll from anyone crossing it for 100 years. Initially the toll charge was based not on the cost of construction, but to match the charges levied by the ferries it replaced. While the toll was in operation there were turnstiles adjacent to the booths at each end of the bridge. The lease on the toll ended in 1917 and now you can cross the bridge for free. The turnstiles were removed in 1919 and the booth where you paid your ha'penny remained in place until 2001 when the bridge was renovated to ensure it could stay open. The renovations saw the bridge mouths redesigned to increase capacity and strengthen the bridge. Among the pieces that were removed were the toll booths on either side. Wider granite entrances were created at either end where the toll booths once stood to allow space for pedestrians. The booth from the south end of the bridge ended up in a south city council yard. When the council combined all their yards into one, the components of the booth were sadly thrown in a skip before someone luckily saved them and brought them home. It's 22 years now since the booth was dismantled. The previous owner planned to make a gate out of it but never got around to it. I'm delighted to have secured it now for posterity. The booth comprises 40 railings and posts made of cast iron. The below clip is from the RTE archives of writer Éamonn MacThomáis on the bridge in 1983. Éamonn is standing in the south booth asking people for their ha'penny. https://www.rte.ie/archives/2016/0517/789083-the-hapenny-bridge/ Photograph thanks to William Murphy (Creative Commons licenses/ Google)