 The ford at this point on the River Shannon has been in use since at least the Bronze Age, and the settlement (including an early Christian site) expanded around this river-crossing.The ford of Athlone was strategically important, as south of Athlone the River Shannon is impassable until Clonmacnoise (where the Esker Riada meets the Shannon), and north is Lough Ree.By the 11th century, Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair (King of Connacht) had built a wooden bridge at Athlone, approximately 100 metres south of the current bridge.