The village proper was set out  1700 by Robert Rochfort, MP for Westmeath from 1651 to 1727. As part of the village building programme, Rochfort financed and built a new bridge over the River Derry, giving the village its new name. Following the death of Rochfort in 1727, the village was controlled by his son George Rochfort. George died just three years later, in 1730, and the village was then under the control of his son Robert Rochfort (soon to become 1st Earl of Belvedere). On the death of the 1st Earl, the village passed to his son and heir George Augustus Rochfort, the 2nd Earl of Belvedere.