Milestone or milepost

Freestanding cut granite milestone, erected c. 1820, with pedimented cap and chamfered plinth base. Cast-iron plaque to front (southeast) face having raised characters reading 'P.O Dublin 1 Howth 8', and incised mason's mark. Located at northwest side of North Strand Road at junction with Bayview Avenue.

This well-executed mile marker survives in its original position on the North Strand Road. The combination of cast-iron and carved granite creates a textural variation within this modestly-scaled but attractive item of street furniture. It is one of a series of markers erected in the early 1820s marking the distances between the G.P.O. in Dublin city centre and the port and mail station at Howth. Thomas Telford had been contracted in the early nineteenth century to improve the Howth Road to ensure the speedy delivery of mail.