2025:672 - Keamsellagh East, Galway

An 18th-century milestone at Keamsellagh East townland in south Co. 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 Keamsellagh East is a simple limestone pillar, trapezoidal in horizontal section and originally 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. The milestone was originally inscribed ‘11 From Galway’ (in old Irish miles) on its narrow, outer face.  As found, the milestone had become overgrown and had partly sunk from view relative to the height of the modern road surface. Also, the inscription was badly damaged and partly defaced by spalls struck off the upper part of the stone by the defence forces during World War II (local information). The milestone was excavated and reinstated on the same site, at the correct height relative to the road and free from vegetation.

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.