2024:861 - Raheen Kilkelly, Galway

An 18th-century milestone at Cranmore Cross, in Raheen Kilkelly townland in south County Galway, forms part of a series of nine milestones on the public roads between the town of Gort and the village of Kilcolgan. Labane and Ardrahan Community Development Association (LACDA) organised the South Galway Milestones Project to record and conserve the milestones and raise public awareness of them.

The milestone at Cranmore Cross is a simple limestone pillar, trapezoidal in horizontal section and flat on top, with well-dressed faces. It was designed to stand 36 inches (c. 0.9m) above ground, with a rough, undressed root below ground. It is the only milestone in the series that is inscribed on more than one face: ’14 From Galway’ on the narrow, outer face; ‘3 From Gort’ on the north side; ‘9½ From Oranmore’ on the south side (all in old Irish miles).

As found, the stone had been moved from its original position during pipe-laying (c. 2010) for a local group water scheme. Its new position was unsympathetic as it was partly screened by a clutter of roadside features including group water scheme marker pillars, a telecommunications pole and unauthorised signage. Also, it was set too high, so that part of its roughly dressed base could be seen above the ground surface. There was some damage around the upper part of  the stone where spalls appear to have been struck off but the inscriptions were intact. The stone was excavated and reinstated nearer its original position, in the grass verge c. 50m further south, on the same side of the road and at the correct height relative to the modern road surface.

The work was supported by grants from Galway County Council and the Heritage Council and by practical support from the County Council’s Gort Area Office.