When Kilcullen was part of Ireland's first toll road
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| Brian McCabe, with Michael Mullally and Sean O'Reilly. |
It was also an insight into how people travelled in the 18th and 19th centuries, which in summation was with considerable difficulty.
Brian McCabe of Kill Local History Group said he became interested in the toll road following a search with friends for the old milestones on the road. The one set in the wall of Cross and Passion College at the crossroads in Kilcullen today also marks the end of that first toll road (though according to maps of the time, it looks to have been originally located on the Dublin side of the bridge).
He noted how the stones were inscribed with old Irish miles distances from Dublin, which indicated that they pre-existed the shift to British imperial measurement in 1826.
In the course of his presentation, he used the various Acts of Parliament from 1729 relating to the toll road to provide their own 'milestones' of the progress of the scheme to pay for the repair of the road. Supposed to only last for 20 years, it was continued for a century until the system collapsed with the arrival of the railways.
From a surviving journal of the Dublin-Kilcullen toll road commissioners, he showed how the tolls were substantial revenue sources for those collecting them, but nevertheless incurred major debt.
The record of the enterprise also detailed instances of toll-keepers being sacked because of infringements of their duties, including a number of such employees at the Kilcullen toll-gate.
Another referenced an affray involving people travelling with a funeral who were under the impression that they were exempt from the toll, so they smashed through the gate at Kill and assaulted the toll-keeper. They subsequently were ordered to pay their toll, but an inquiry into the assault failed because their 'names could not be ascertained'.
Brian McCabe also provided interesting details of the various families involved in operating the road, including that of George Taylor who, with fellow Scottish surveyor Andrew Skinner, mapped the roads of Ireland in 1777. Facsimiles of their maps of Kildare are exhibited in Kilcullen Heritage Centre.
In all, another absolutely fascinating night of history in Kilcullen.
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