Those present at a recent meeting of the Borris-In-Ossory-Mountmellick Municipal were treated to a history on the Pike of Rushall as part of a motion about signposts.
Independent Cllr James Kelly put forward a motion called for new entrance signs to be erected on the R445.
He praised the Council firstly for removing 15 signs on the entrance to the Pike that were redundant.
Cllr Kelly said: “I made a comment that the Pike of Rushall could be in the Guinness Book or Records for the number of road signs that were on the entrance to it.
“We counted up to 21 road signs and the council came in straight away and took away about 15 or 16 that weren’t necessary.
“There is a Tidy Towns group who are working hard over there and they want the place looking well.”
Admittedly, the Pike of Rushall does have a very strange name and Cllr Kelly provided the meeting with some insight into how it got it.
He said: “The name of The Pike of Rushall comes from the turn-pikes at toll-gates across the roads which were opened for the stage coach.
“All other vehicles had to pay for the pike staff to be turned aside. 1d for log-wheeled cars, and 6d for band-wheeled cars.”
The stage coach that Cllr Kelly spoke of was a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses.
In a second motion, Cllr Kelly asked that Laois County Council carry out an examination on the state of the footpaths at Kiln Lane Housing Estate in Mountrath.
He said: “This estate recently won the Pride of Place Award but some of the foot paths are in a bad state.
“One part dates back to the 1970s and we need funding to rectify this.”
Finally, Cllr Kelly asked that stop signs and road markings be provided at the approach roads to the narrow bridge in Camross Village.
He also asked that the road direction sign at Marymount Cross in Camross be replaced.
A Council official is to meet Cllr Kelly at both locations.
