Survey Data
Reg No
15403333
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Historical, Scientific, Social
Original Use
Milestone/milepost
Date
1760 - 1800
Coordinates
249043, 243122
Date Recorded
24/08/2006
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding limestone milestone on triangular plan having pyramidal top, erected c.1780. Benchmark incised to top, c.1830. Located adjacent to main Dublin-Galway road between the village of Milltownpass and Rochfortbridge.
Appraisal
A nicely carved limestone artefact which is an interesting addition to the roadscape to the east of Moate, acting as a subtle reminder of the great age of coaching in Ireland. It probably dates to the late eighteenth-century, a period when the Grand Juries were responsible for a great deal of improvement in the road transport network throughout Ireland. The incised benchmark was carved by the Ordnance Survey in preparation for the production of the first Six-Inch Map Series in the 1830s. This milestone is one of a number surviving along the Dublin Galway Road. However, many of these subtle artifacts having been lost in recent years on account of road widening schemes making this example an important survival.