What is recorded here

Pile is a circular stone tower on a mountain top, built in the 19th century to mark the boundary between Offaly and Laois. Surveyors stacked the overlapping stones so the line could be seen from a distance, then used the same spot as a trigonometrical station. Small cairns still dot the ground to the north and south, repeating the border like beads on a string. The view stretches in every direction, making the exact limit of a county feel both clear and arbitrarily small.

Situated on top of a mountain with good views in all directions. Irregular shaped stone cairn consisting of a circular tower built of overlapping stones which appears to have been constructed in the 19th century as a county boundary marker by the OS. This monument marks the border between Offaly and Laois and is used as a Trigonometrical station to mark a bench mark. Piles of stones resembling small cairns to the N and S also mark the line of the county boundary. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 23 May 2011

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.